Texas senators have passed a measure officially recognizing the “Gulf of America” on state maps and documents, and have sent it to House lawmakers.
Senate Bill 1717, filed by State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R–Galveston), strikes references to the “Gulf of Mexico” in 140 pages of state documents and replaces them with “Gulf of America.”
Senators approved Middleton’s proposal 20-11 late last week. It now awaits a House Committee on State Affairs hearing, chaired by State Rep. Ken King (R–Canadian).
The proposal follows President Donald Trump’s January 20 executive order titled “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness.”
One provision of Trump’s order instructs the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to “take all appropriate actions” in renaming the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America,” including updating the Geographic Names Information System.
“As a senator from Galveston, I am proud to represent a portion of the Gulf Coast, and it is time for Texas to follow suit in officially recognizing this executive order and federal action by enshrining the new name in our state statute as the ‘Gulf of America,’” said Middleton.
Before debate ensued on the measure, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick quipped that he already has a globe on his desk where the region is referred to as the “Gulf of America.”
State. Sen. José Menéndez (D–San Antonio) asked Middleton where the buck stopped with changing the names of monuments, rivers, or geographic features with historically Spanish names.
“I’m sorry, Senator. This bill only covers the ‘Gulf of America,’ which is, of course, official. And we need to make it official in our state code as well,” responded Middleton.
State Sen. Juan Hinojosa and Middleton had a similar argument over the renaming.
Hinojosa, a Democrat from McAllen, specifically asked if the state would change the name back if a new administration reverts to calling it the “Gulf of Mexico.”
“You’re always welcome to introduce a bill to change the name in our state code,” said Middleton.
“I just disagree with you,” replied Hinojosa. “I don’t think this is needed. Just pure politics, in my opinion. But I respect your right to introduce this legislation.”
In addition to renaming the “Gulf of Mexico” as the “Gulf of America,” Trump’s executive order also ordered “Denali” in Alaska to be renamed “Mount McKinley.”
The mountain previously bore the name of the 25th president from 1917 until President Barack Obama ordered it to be changed to “Denali” in 2015.
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