Gulf of America Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, when I call this a deeply unserious bill, I think I am probably being charitable. It is unserious, and it comes from a Republican majority that is either unable or unwilling to do the real work of Congress.

In the first disastrous 100 days of President Trump's second term in office, we have seen him sow chaos and distraction in every direction.

This deeply corrupt and unhinged leader has put his biggest campaign donor and the wealthiest man in the world in charge of slashing programs that millions of Americans depend on, from food assistance to nuclear safety to disaster response, all in the name of ``efficiency.'' They have indiscriminately fired thousands of Federal workers, like this is some dystopian reboot of ``The Apprentice,'' except in this episode, they are filling the government with unqualified sycophants, who are running around firing meteorologists, health experts, and emergency responders, people who keep our government running.

Today, in the face of all of that, all of this chaos that our Republican colleagues don't want to talk about, at least we are hearing them engage in some debate over this unserious bill about renaming the Gulf of Mexico, which I suppose is an improvement because for the past couple of weeks in the markup hearings on their disastrous budget reconciliation bill, they have been unwilling to debate at all. It has just been silence from Republicans as they move through one of the most reckless bills in American history, the same silence as they duck their constituents by canceling townhalls and avoiding media inquiries.

Instead of debating that very important and destructive legislation, they are speaking up today about this deeply unserious bill to rename a body of water. We wish that our Republican colleagues would join us in asking the question that is on more and more Americans' minds: What the heck is going on?

This administration is not draining the swamp. They are torching the country. The global economy is in chaos. We are teetering on the brink of recession. Administration officials are telling us we should perhaps prepare to ration dolls and toys this Christmas. Yet, they want to debate renaming the Gulf of Mexico.

Congress, which more and more appears to just be a joke, is now advancing a bill that literally started off as a joke. That is right. The first person to publicly suggest the name change was not Donald Trump or the author of this bill. It was comedian Stephen Colbert on ``Comedy Central.'' It was a joke back when the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was happening.

Eleven people died in that disaster. Entire ecosystems collapsed. The Louisiana coast was wrecked, along with industries and livelihoods that depend on that Gulf Coast ecosystem. It was all devastated, and Colbert used the fake name ``Gulf of America'' to satirize the absurdity of oil-soaked nationalism.

Now, here we are, 15 years later, in a Congress that apparently thinks they have no real work to do, turning a late-night punch line into the legislative business of the United States House.

I would love to say this is just a one-off, but it fits a disturbing trend. Again and again, this majority keeps replacing science with slogans, governance with grievance, and policymaking with cheap performance art.

The truth is, this bill won't fix a single problem. It does absolutely nothing to help the Gulf Coast. It won't create a single job. It is not going to fix our climate crisis. It is just dumb.

The only thing this bill will do is waste time and taxpayer dollars to stroke the ego of a guy who Sharpied a hurricane map on live TV.

In committee, I offered an amendment that would actually advance the value of efficiency because if this is all about stroking the ego of one man, if it is all about cultish sycophancy, why do it in a piecemeal way with all these individual bills to put his face on Mount Rushmore and the $100 bill?

We actually have legislation from folks across the aisle to do all these things: to rename Dulles Airport, to do national holidays. Why not go all the way? We know that is where this is all heading anyway since everything is in service of one man's fragile ego.

Why not rename the entire planet ``planet Trump''? At least that would be efficient. We would hurry up and get to the inevitable outcome of where this Republican Congress is taking us.

If you like this unserious bill, there is another deal for you because Eric and Don Jr. are selling Gulf of America hats on their website for 50 bucks a pop. One hat even says: ``Gulf of America, Yet Another Trump Development.'' The sales pitch for one includes ``as seen on President Donald J. Trump,'' and get your meme coin while you are at it.

Remember, all of these grifts are for a limited time. They won't last much longer.

The American people deserve much better. A recent FOX News poll--yes, FOX--showed that a big majority opposes the name change for the Gulf of Mexico: 67 percent. Americans know a joke when they see one, even if this Republican Congress doesn't.

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman is right about one thing: Democrats are outraged because as this President is crashing the global economy, careening us into recession, destroying retirement plans and 401(k)'s, driving up costs for American families on everything from cars to eggs to now us being told we may have to ration toys and dolls this Christmas, as all of that is happening, he is using Congress' Article I trade and commerce authority to do it.

What do you hear from Republicans across the aisle about this thing that is wrecking the lives of so many American families? Nothing. Worse than nothing, they have tied their own hands with a gimmicky bill that they passed to create a false legislative day that never ends so that they can't even invoke Congress' Article I trade authority and put some sensible sideboards on this trade and tariff policy.

It is madness, and the gentlewoman is right. We are outraged.
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Mr. HUFFMAN. Castor), who represents the Gulf and may have some wisdom to share with us about this subject.
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Mr. HUFFMAN. Rivas).

Mr. Speaker, the most encouraging thing so far in the debate on this bill is that the only speaker that the Republicans have offered in support of it is the gentlewoman from Georgia. That is it.

I think that is hopeful. It suggests that maybe there is still a little bit of dignity somewhere in the Republican Conference. I guess we will see in a few minutes when we start voting on this bill that is an insult to any serious Member of Congress. It is certainly an insult to the American people and a giant middle finger to the rest of the world.

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Dexter).

Mr. Speaker, I think it says a lot that as we have wasted the last hour of Congress' time on a deeply unserious bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico, and while Republicans have offered just one speaker in support of this preposterous piece of legislation--this monumental disaster, this insult to the American people, and this giant middle finger to the rest of the world--the only speaker to speak in support of this was the gentlewoman from Georgia. I think that just tells us an awful lot today.

The American people think that Congress should do real work, and there is plenty of real work to be done. Americans are watching their 401(k)'s in free fall from this President's reckless tariff games, tariff chaos that is happening by using Congress' Article I trade and commerce authority.

What is this Congress doing about it? They are doing worse than nothing. They have tied their own hands because, in their government funding bill, they have created the gimmick of a never-ending legislative day to prevent them from using their emergency authorities to put some sensible sideboards on Donald Trump's tariff madness.

In the district right next to mine in Napa County, the Trump administration abruptly canceled a $50 million wildfire prevention grant just 4 months after one of the deadliest wildfires in California history. That has been the story throughout the West. Critical funding for a critical need for firefighters and for projects that make us safer from wildfire is in total chaos or canceled because of this madness with Elon Musk, DOGE, and an unhinged President.

What do we hear from our colleagues across the aisle? Nothing. We get bills like this to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

Tribal communities are being hammered around the country. Food insecurity programs are being defunded. Education programs are being frozen. Healthcare resources are being slashed. All the while, the administration continues to fire essential agency scientists and public servants en masse as this Republican Congress shrugs.

The majority is wasting time on an ego-driven rebrand, a performative stunt rooted in President Trump's imperial edict absurdly titled: ``Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness.''

Mr. Speaker, this is so obviously what authoritarians through history have done. They do things like call for parades on their own birthday, or rename things, or do other stunts to distract the American people from the way they are lining their own pockets and taking away fundamental rights.

This Republican Congress appears to be perfectly fine with that.

A new CNN national poll shows that the majority of Americans believe Congress is not doing enough to check this President's actions. Nearly one-half say that the current administration is weakening our democracy, our economy, and our global standing. This bill really is Exhibit A.

We are not just renaming a gulf. We are drowning public trust in what this institution is supposed to do: serve the people, solve problems, and defend democracy.

Yes, this bill has been called a joke more than once. In committee, I even offered an amendment to rename the entire planet ``Trump'' just to underscore the absurdity of their sycophantic bootlicking.

Now, after seeing this bill advance not only through committee but all the way through to the House floor for a final vote, it is getting a little bit harder to laugh. That is because it is not a joke anymore. It is a case study in misplaced priorities.

Mr. Speaker, when you start erasing or changing phrases like ``climate change,'' ``equity,'' or ``disadvantaged communities'' from government websites, when you ban them from scientific reports, then you are not just playing word games. You are dismantling our capacity to even name the problems we face, let alone fix them, but we are renaming bodies of water.

Mr. Speaker, we are about to open the roll, and as we watch the red and green light up on the big board, I think it is going to be a pretty good proxy for which Members of Congress still think that we should be doing serious work, that we should be reclaiming our Article I responsibilities under the Constitution, that we should have a little bit of dignity in the face of a deeply unserious bill that has wasted our time, and to see which Members of Congress are simply bending the knee to Donald Trump and stroking one man's ego in everything they do.

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 203, nays 213, not voting 16, as follows: [Roll No. 121] YEAS--203 Adams Aguilar Amo Ansari Auchincloss Balint Barragan Beatty Bell Bera Beyer Bishop Bonamici Boyle (PA) Brown Brownley Budzinski Bynum Carbajal Carson Casar Case Casten Castor (FL) Castro (TX) Cherfilus-McCormick Chu Cisneros Clark (MA) Clarke (NY) Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Conaway Correa Costa Courtney Crockett Crow Cuellar Davids (KS) Davis (IL) Davis (NC) Dean (PA) DeGette DeLauro DelBene Deluzio DeSaulnier Dexter Dingell Doggett Elfreth Escobar Espaillat Evans (PA) Fields Figures Fletcher Foster Foushee Frankel, Lois Friedman Frost Garamendi Garcia (CA) Garcia (IL) Garcia (TX) Gillen Golden (ME) Goldman (NY) Gomez Gonzalez, V. Goodlander Gray Green, Al (TX) Harder (CA) Hayes Himes Horsford Houlahan Hoyer Hoyle (OR) Huffman Jackson (IL) Jacobs Jayapal Jeffries Johnson (GA) Johnson (TX) Kamlager-Dove Kaptur Kelly (IL) Kennedy (NY) Khanna Krishnamoorthi LaHood Landsman Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Latimer Lee (NV) Lee (PA) Leger Fernandez Levin Liccardo Lieu Lofgren Lynch Magaziner Mannion Matsui McBath McBride McClain Delaney McClellan McCollum McDonald Rivet McGarvey McGovern Meeks Menendez Meng Mfume Min Moore (WI) Morelle Morrison Moskowitz Moulton Mrvan Mullin Nadler Neal Neguse Ocasio-Cortez Olszewski Omar Pallone Panetta Pappas Pelosi Perez Peters Pettersen Pingree Pocan Pou Pressley Quigley Ramirez Randall Raskin Riley (NY) Rivas Ross Ruiz Ryan Salinas Sanchez Scanlon Schakowsky Schneider Scholten Schrier Scott (VA) Scott, David Sewell Sherman Simon Smith (WA) Sorensen Soto Stansbury Stanton Stevens Strickland Subramanyam Suozzi Swalwell Sykes Takano Thanedar Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Titus Tlaib Tokuda Tonko Torres (CA) Torres (NY) Tran Underwood Vargas Vasquez Veasey Vindman Wasserman Schultz Waters Watson Coleman Whitesides Williams (GA) Wilson (FL) NAYS--213 Aderholt Alford Allen Amodei (NV) Arrington Babin Bacon Baird Balderson Barr Barrett Baumgartner Bean (FL) Begich Bentz Bergman Bice Biggs (AZ) Biggs (SC) Bilirakis Boebert Bost Brecheen Bresnahan Buchanan Burchett Burlison Calvert Cammack Carey Carter (GA) Carter (TX) Ciscomani Cline Cloud Clyde Cole Collins Comer Crane Crank Crawford Crenshaw Davidson De La Cruz DesJarlais Diaz-Balart Donalds Downing Edwards Ellzey Emmer Estes Evans (CO) Ezell Fallon Fedorchak Feenstra Fine Finstad Fischbach Fitzgerald Fitzpatrick Fleischmann Flood Fong Foxx Franklin, Scott Fry Fulcher Garbarino Gill (TX) Gimenez Goldman (TX) Gonzales, Tony Gooden Gosar Graves Green (TN) Greene (GA) Griffith Grothman Guest Guthrie Hageman Hamadeh (AZ) Haridopolos Harrigan Harris (MD) Harris (NC) Harshbarger Hern (OK) Higgins (LA) Hill (AR) Hinson Houchin Hudson Huizenga Hunt Hurd (CO) Issa Jack Jackson (TX) James Johnson (SD) Jordan Joyce (OH) Joyce (PA) Kean Kelly (MS) Kelly (PA) Kennedy (UT) Kiggans (VA) Kiley (CA) Kim Knott Kustoff LaLota LaMalfa Langworthy Latta Lawler Lee (FL) Letlow Loudermilk Lucas Luna Luttrell Mace Mackenzie Malliotakis Maloy Mann Mast McCaul McClain McClintock McCormick McDowell McGuire Messmer Meuser Miller (IL) Miller (OH) Miller (WV) Miller-Meeks Mills Moolenaar Moore (AL) Moore (NC) Moore (UT) Moore (WV) Moran Murphy Nehls Newhouse Nunn (IA) Obernolte Ogles Onder Owens Palmer Patronis Perry Pfluger Reschenthaler Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rose Rouzer Roy Rulli Salazar Scalise Schmidt Schweikert Scott, Austin Self Sessions Shreve Simpson Smith (MO) Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smucker Spartz Stauber Steil Steube Strong Stutzman Taylor Tenney Thompson (PA) Tiffany Timmons Turner (OH) Valadao Van Drew Van Duyne Van Orden Wagner Walberg Weber (TX) Webster (FL) Westerman Wied Williams (TX) Wilson (SC) Wittman Womack Yakym Zinke NOT VOTING--16 Carter (LA) Connolly Craig Dunn (FL) Gottheimer Ivey Keating Massie McIver Norcross Norman Rutherford Sherrill Stefanik Trahan Velazquez

Messrs. GROTHMAN, VAN DREW, BRESNAHAN, McGUIRE, BAIRD, FITZGERALD, COLLINS, KEAN, FULCHER, PALMER, OBERNOLTE, HARIDOPOLOS, Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia, Messrs. JOYCE of Ohio, and LAWLER changed their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''

Messrs. GRAY, GOLDMAN of New York, GARCIA of Illinois, and Mrs. McCLAIN DELANEY changed their vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''

So the motion to recommit was rejected.

The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.

A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

A recorded vote was ordered.

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