Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) has introduced legislation to rename the coastal waters around the United States after Donald Trump.
“Tomorrow I will introduce legislation to rename our coastal waters after @realDonaldTrump! President Trump took several commendable actions for our oceans as part of his work to make America strong, secure, and economically prosperous. Renaming our waters will serve as a reminder of his many contributions to our nation for generations to come,” Steube said.
Tomorrow I will introduce legislation to rename our coastal waters after @realDonaldTrump!
President Trump took several commendable actions for our oceans as part of his work to make America strong, secure, and economically prosperous. Renaming our waters will serve as a… pic.twitter.com/Xj4NT3kqDx— Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) June 13, 2024
The bill would rename the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to the “Donald John Trump Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States.”
“If passed, it would mandate the name change on any applicable laws, maps, documents and other records,” Fox News reports.
GOP Bill Would Rename Coastal Waters After Trump: Coastal waters around the United States would be named after former President Donald Trump, who is currently running for another term in the White House, if a long-shot bill proposed by a House Republican… https://t.co/NVEAw9nTfE pic.twitter.com/BnFANraKyh
— JPNWMN (@JPNWMN) June 17, 2024
Per Fox News:
His Friday bill introduction lines up with the former president’s 78th birthday.
The legislation is unlikely to be taken up by the Democrat-controlled Senate, but it’s evidence of Trump’s enduring influence within the Republican Party.
It’s the second bill proposed this year to name an internationally used entity after Trump.
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., introduced a bill in April to rename Washington-Dulles International Airport to the Donald J. Trump International Airport.
Republicans now want to rename the oceans after Donald Trump #NewsBreak https://t.co/YWaz4X703A
— Donna Carman (@ozzyluvshockey2) June 16, 2024
The Daily Wire reports:
Steube’s press release described a number of actions Trump took as president related to oceans, including signing bills and proclamations. He also issued a memo directing federal agencies to make a national strategy to map the U.S. EEZ.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. EEZ “extends no more than 200 nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline and is adjacent to the 12 nautical mile territorial sea of the U.S., including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory or possession over which the United States exercises sovereignty.”
Within its EEZ, NOAA says, the U.S. has: “Sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving and managing natural resources, whether living and nonliving, of the seabed and subsoil and the superjacent waters and with regard to other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the zone, such as the production of energy from the water, currents and winds.”
The U.S. has jurisdiction “as provided for in international and domestic laws with regard to the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations, and structures, marine scientific research, and the protection and preservation of the marine environment,” NOAA adds, and other “rights and duties provided for under international and domestic laws.”