By Howard Fischer
Mail | X: @azcapmedia

PHOENIX — Rep. Teresa Martinez says it isn’t enough that President Trump ordered a new name on what has been known for centuries as the Gulf of Mexico.

Now the Casa Grande Republican got the House on Thursday to vote to force public schools to teach that to their students.

Martinez said as far as she’s concerned, the order by President Trump 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.

If that’s not enough to prove that’s the official name, she pointed out that Google has acceded to the presidential edict and now uses that name on its maps.

But it’s about more than that, Martinez said.

“Words are very important,” she said.

“Words have power,” Martinez continued. “So it is important to not just overlook what things are called.”

She wants to ensure Arizona teachers follow the president’s lead.

“It’s important to start teaching pro-America to our students,” Martinez said.

“When we start talking about the greatness of America, we start talking and promoting patriotism,” she said. “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?”

All that left Rep. David Marshall wondering.

“Why do we need legislation for this when we have an executive order from the federal government that has renamed it?” asked the Snowflake Republican when House Bill 2700 was reviewed earlier this month in the House Education Committee.

Martinez said its designed to ensure compliance.

“I believe that there will be some schools who will ignore that,” she said. Ditto, Martinez said, with some universities and community colleges

“Not everybody will be excited to teach about the Gulf of America,” she said. “And so I think we need to make sure that the state of Arizona follows the president’s lead, and that we start saying that it is Gulf of America.”

Rep. Lydia Hernandez said she has a better idea: amend the legislation to say the body of water is “El Golfo de las Americas.”

“We have a North and South America,” said the Phoenix Democrat.
Martinez, however, said she’s not prepared to depart from Trump’s order.

On Thursday, the House gave the measure preliminary approval over the objection of House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos. He questioned why lawmakers were even dealing with the issue at all.

“This 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,” said the Laveen Democrat. He cited a Marquette University poll that found 72% of those asked opposed the name change. In fact, even those who might be considered most affected are giving it a chilly reception, with a survey of Florida residents finding 58% against it.

Martinez said it’s important when teaching young children to “call things what they are called.”

“When the president of the United States says to name it the Gulf of America, then the state of Arizona will support that,” she said.

All that still leaves the question of whether a change in name will lead to more patriotism, particularly given that there are generations of Arizonans and Americans who grew up calling it the Gulf of Mexico.

“It was different when we went to school,” Martinez told Capitol Media Services. She said there has been “a sharp decline” in patriotism.

At this point the measure covers only public schools. But Martinez said she will amend it when it goes to the Senate after a final roll-call vote in the House as early as this coming week.

While Google, Apple and Microsoft have all brought their maps into compliance, others are balking.

Most notably, the Trump administration banned the Associated Press from covering major events at the White House after the international news service refused to use the Gulf of America name in its stories. AP sued but a federal judge refused to issue a temporary restraining order, though he did agree to expedite the litigation.

And Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has threatened to sue Google, saying that 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 that its Mexican users would continue to see the old name when they search for a map.