Who Was the Lone GOP Voice Against the Gulf of America Bill?

Nebraska’s Representative in the U.S., Don Bacon, was the the sole Republican who opposed a measure that would codify President Donald Trump’s executive order to Change the title of the Mexican Gulf to the Gulf of America.

The bill , introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, would require "any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record" to be changed from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

It went through the House controlled by Republicans on May 8 by a 211-206 vote , where bacon and all Democrats were against it, USA TODAY reported. A total of sixteen legislators did not cast their votes—eight were Republicans and eight were Democrats.

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Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order to rename it, stating that the body of water had "been an essential resource for our rapidly growing nation from the beginning and continues to be a significant part of America."

The legislation faces a more difficult challenge in the Senate , where seven Democrats would need to join Republicans for it to clear the 60-vote threshold and advance to a final vote.

Bacon says the US has to deal with 'more important issues'

Bacon, who was first elected to the House in 2016, said the U.S. has "more important issues to worry about."

"The administration is achieving significant progress in safeguarding our borders and reducing inefficiency within the government," Bacon stated. States Newsroom . "But we need to focus on the reconciliation bill and how to strengthen Medicaid for every American who needs it. Renaming bodies of water is not a priority and sends a bad message to the rest of the world."

However, other Republicans have expressed support for the bill.

Greene said in a post on X ahead of the vote that it was "time to codify President Trump’s executive order into law."

She wrote, "It’s OUR gulf, let’s make the name permanent!"

House Rules Committee Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, said during a hearing that the bill “recognizes the strategic influence America has over this geography, not to mention the existing economic, cultural, and commercial might that we passively exert on the gulf.”

However, Democrats condemned the bill, with Florida's U.S. Representative Maxwell Frost being one of the critics.

Frost mentioned that prices are increasing. Individuals' 401(k) savings are getting depleted, and there’s an attempt to rename the Gulf of Mexico, which won’t succeed," he stated. "In reality, everyone else will continue calling it the Gulf of Mexico.

The article initially appeared in the Des Moines Register: Which was the sole Republican who voted against the Gulf of America legislation?