ATLANTA — On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump said he was considering a push to change the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene says she is already putting her office to work on that.
Greene announced Tuesday that she had directed her team to start the process in Congress to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
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In a statement released by the congresswoman’s office, Greene said in part:
“Mexican cartels currently use the Gulf of Mexico to traffic humans, drugs, weapons, and God knows what else while the Mexican government allows them to do it. The American people are footing the bill to protect and secure the maritime waterways for commerce to be conducted. Our U.S. armed forces protect the area from any military threats from foreign countries. It’s our gulf. The rightful name is the Gulf of America and it’s what the entire world should refer to it as.”
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Geographically, the Gulf of Mexico borders Mexico, Cuba and the United States.
As far as what’s in the legislation itself, the two-page bill does not include any provisions to address Mexican cartels, human trafficking, drug trafficking, maritime security or commerce, or weapons trafficking or related protections or funding related to the region.
Instead, the bill directs the Secretary of Commerce to implement changes to maps, documents and regulations that name the Gulf of Mexico and instead change the references to the “Gulf of America,” as well as require that within 180 days of passage, federal agencies update verbiage to match.
Even if the bill passes in U.S. Congress, both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, no provisions listed in the legislation discuss implementation on a global scale, or even with just America’s closest international neighbors.
As reported by the Associated Press, other countries are not required to change the name if America does. Speaking to podcaster Benny Johnson, Greene said the legislative move would fund new maps and administrative materials throughout the federal government to implement a potential change of name to “Gulf of America,” but the legislation published by Greene’s office includes no such provisions.
The AP also reported that this is not the first time legislation has been proposed in the U.S. to rename the Gulf, though the time referenced was in 2012 and was in the Mississippi Legislature, rather than federally. The AP said the bill’s author said it had been a joke, and while it was referred to a committee, the bill did not pass.
The commentary from the president-elect followed days of speculation on the global stage after Trump expressed interest in absorbing Canada and Greenland into the United States, as well as retaking ownership of the Panama Canal. Leaders in Greenland and Denmark have denied Trump’s request that Greenland consider ceding itself back to the U.S.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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