PHOENIX â Rep. Teresa Martinez says it isnât enough that President Donald Trump ordered a new name on what has been known for centuries as the Gulf of Mexico.
She got the Republican-controlled Arizona House to vote Thursday to force K-12 public schools to teach the new Gulf of America name.
And Martinez said she will amend it, to also force public universities and community colleges to teach the new name, when it goes to the Senate after a final roll-call vote in the House.
The Casa Grande Republican said that, as far as sheâs concerned, Trumpâs order makes Gulf of America the official name for that body of water that encompasses everything from the west coast of Florida through Texas and along the east coast of Mexico to the Yucatan.
Rep. Teresa Martinez Â
She pointed out that Google has acceded to the presidential edict and now uses that name on its maps.
But itâs about more than that, Martinez said. âWords are very important. Words have power. So it is important to not just overlook what things are called.ââ
âItâs important to start teaching pro-America to our students,ââ Martinez said. âWhen we start talking about the greatness of America, we start talking and promoting patriotism. What better way to promote a patriotic country and teach children about patriotism than to start calling it Gulf of America and taking pride in that?ââ
But Rep. David Marshall, a Republican from Snowflake, asked in an earlier House Education Committee hearing, âWhy do we need legislation for this when we have an executive order from the federal government that has renamed it?ââ
Martinez said itâs designed to ensure compliance.
âI believe that there will be some schools who will ignore that,ââ she said. âNot everybody will be excited to teach about the Gulf of America. And so I think we need to make sure that the state of Arizona follows the presidentâs lead, and that we start saying that it is Gulf of America.ââ
Rep. Lydia Hernandez, a Phoenix Democrat, said she has a better idea: amend the legislation to say the body of water is âEl Golfo de las Americas.ââ
âWe have a North and South America,ââ she said.
Martinez, however, said sheâs not prepared to depart from Trumpâs order.
On Thursday, House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos questioned why lawmakers were even dealing with the issue.
âThis does nothing to bring down the cost of housing, to make health care more affordable or accessible, to make our schools better, to bring down the cost of child care,ââ said the Laveen Democrat.
He cited a Marquette University poll that found 72% of those asked opposed the name change. Even those who might be considered most affected are giving it a chilly reception, as a survey of Florida residents found 58% against it.
The Republican-controlled Arizona House voted Thursday to force K-12 public schools to teach the new Gulf of America name declared by President Donald Trump and already adopted by Google Maps.
Although generations of Arizonans and Americans grew up calling it the Gulf of Mexico, Martinez said patriotism levels were âdifferent when we went to schoolâ and have sharply declined.
While Google, Apple and Microsoft have all brought their maps into compliance, others are balking.
Most notably, the Associated Press international news service has declined to use the Gulf of America in its stories. The Trump administration retaliated by banning AP from covering major events at the White House. AP sued. A federal judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order, but did agree to expedite the litigation.
And Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has threatened to sue Google, saying the only thing Trump can control is the name of the continental shelf which extends only 22 nautical miles from the U.S. shore. She was not satisfied by Google saying its Mexican users would continue to see the old name when they search for a map.
