(SRN NEWS/AP/97.5 GLORY FM) – With the help of Hall County’s two representatives, Andrew Clyde (R-Jackson County) and Rich McCormick (R-Suwanee), the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to formally change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
The House voted 211-206 to change the name of the body of water that borders five southeastern U.S. states and a major swath of Mexico and flows into the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Here is how the Georgia delegation voted:
- Rick Allen, R: Yes
- Sanford Bishop, D: No
- Buddy Carter, R: Yes
- Andrew Clyde, R: Yes
- Mike Collins, R: Yes
- Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R: Yes
- Brian Jack, R: Yes
- Henry “Hank” Johnson, D: No
- Barry Loudermilk, R: Yes
- Lucy McBath, D: No
- Richard McCormick, R: Yes
- Austin Scott, R: Yes
- David Scott, D: No
- Nikema Williams, D: No
Some Democrats called the debate and vote “a waste of time.”
Enshrining the name Gulf of America, if also approved by the Senate, would make it more difficult for a future president to tinker with Trump’s executive order.
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, where it normally takes a super-majority of at least 60 votes to advance legislation.
The House bill is sponsored by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a vocal Trump supporter.
The water has been referred to as the Gulf of Mexico for more than 400 years and is internationally recognized as such. U.S. presidents have the power, however, to declare geographic names, which applies within federal government usage.