MONTGOMERY — President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. But State Rep. Marilyn Lands (D-Huntsville) wants input from "our friends across the border" before Alabama recognizes the name change.
"For our state purposes, we would use the name 'Gulf of America' instead of Gulf of Mexico. This bill is the same bill that we ended up with last year after I worked with the different parties that had issues that they had concerns about, to make sure it wouldn't be a financial burden on any entities by changing resources and some date things," State Rep. David Standridge (R-Hayden), who sponsored the bill, said during Wednesdays meeting with the House Committee on State Government.
The House passed the Gulf of America Act last session, but it stalled in the Senate.
In addition to aligning with federal entities, Standridge said it was important to "stay consistent" with other Gulf states, like Florida and Louisiana, which have already recognized the name "Gulf of America." He also said it was important to have a standard when expending state resources.
"Right now, it's kind of in limbo. 'Do we buy Gulf of Mexico, do we buy Gulf of America' when they're trying to buy these resources. I just think we need it to be clear that this is what it is," he said.
The Committee gave the Act favorable approval, but not before Lands made her criticisms.
"So has anybody talked to Mexico? Has the president talked to Mexico?" Lands asked.
"I certainly haven't," Standridge responded.
"To me, the Gulf of Mexico borders the entire eastern coast of Mexico. It doesn't really border that much of America," Lands continued.
"Well, it's actually about the same coastline," Standridge said. "... It's more used, it's protected by the United States, and I just think it's a more fitting name."
"Well, I'd like to see us talk to our friends across the border before we do things," Lands added. "And I guess the only other thing I'll say is I just see us spending a lot of time passing a lot of bills around things that don't really matter that much to the average person when we have a mental health crisis and really big issues that are affecting all of our citizens. And I wish I'd see us spend a little more time on things that really do affect our people."
"We have to realize this is millions of dollars' worth of resources that are being purchased by the state," Standridge said.
State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough (R-Trinity) thanked Standridge for bringing the bill and told Lands he looked forward to her supporting the Laken Riley Act "because it affects a lot of Alabamians with lots of cases of people who have been harmed by illegal aliens."
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