Republicans have proposed bills that would make President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion of renaming the Gulf of Mexico a reality for U.S. documents. Another proposed bill permits negotiations to take back the Panama Canal.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said she directed her staff to draft a bill recognizing the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
“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,” she said. “It’s our gulf. The rightful name is the Gulf of America and it’s what the entire world should refer to it as.”
“As soon as President Trump made his announcement, I directed my staff to get the bill drafted,” Greene noted.
The bill says that “any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the Gulf of Mexico shall be deemed to be a reference to the ‘Gulf of America.'”
South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson (R) introduced a bill that would “authorize the President to enter into negotiations for the reacquisition of the Panama Canal from the Republic of Panama for the symbolic amount of $1.”
“President Trump is right to consider repurchasing the Panama Canal,” Johnson said in a statement. “China’s interest in and presence around the canal is a cause for concern. America must project strength abroad – owning and operating the Panama Canal might be an important step towards a stronger America and a more secure globe.”
Trump declared earlier this week that “Gulf of America has a beautiful ring to it. It’s appropriate and covers a lot of territory.”
He further said that the Panama Canal is “vital to our country. It’s being operated by China. We gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China, and they’ve abused it. They’ve abused that gift.”