00:00I call on Ms. Rivas for her five minutes of questioning.
00:04Thank you for recognizing me.
00:07I consider myself a serious legislator
00:10who was elected to serve my constituents
00:13and represent my community,
00:15which I strive to do today and every day in Washington
00:18and in California's 29th.
00:21I would like to spend my time on HR 276,
00:24which I believe is an unserious bill.
00:27As you know, this bill would rename
00:29the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America
00:32for essentially all documents, maps,
00:35and records within the United States.
00:38Mr. Melito, I believe that witnesses
00:40brought before the committee are to be experts
00:43and serious about their role.
00:46Briefly, what is the point of HR 276?
00:49And do you think this is a serious bill?
00:52The point is to change the name
00:54from Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
00:56And I think it does shine some important light
00:59on the Gulf of America from an energy production standpoint
01:02because we are a critical energy artery for the country
01:05and we haven't really been looking at that
01:08and understanding the full benefits
01:10that it provides to all Americans.
01:11It provides tremendous revenues
01:13and energy production and jobs
01:15and money for land and water conservation.
01:16I want to reclaim my time.
01:18I mean, you're answering, but I don't hear the point.
01:22For the record, let's be honest with each other
01:25and the American people.
01:27At the end of the day, this is not changing the name
01:30of the Gulf of Mexico
01:31because the International Hydrographic Organization
01:36and all of the world will still call it the Gulf of Mexico.
01:39So I asked my colleagues, what's the point of HR 276?
01:44I'll tell you, there is no point to this bill.
01:47HR 276 is a joke.
01:50No, really.
01:52The origin of the idea has been referred to as a joke.
01:56Madam Chair, I'd like to enter a PBS news story
01:59from January 20th, 2025 into the record.
02:03According to this news story,
02:05it recapped the origin of this idea
02:07and the premise is based on literal jokes.
02:10More specifically, in 2012,
02:13a member of the Mississippi legislature
02:16proposed a bill to rename portions of the Gulf
02:19as Gulf of America,
02:20a move that the bill author later referred to as a joke.
02:24Two years earlier, comedian Stephen Colbert
02:28had joked on his show.
02:30Excuse me.
02:30Following.
02:31It's without objection, so ordered.
02:35Excuse me?
02:37For the unanimous consent, is that right?
02:39Is that what you asked for,
02:40was unanimous consent to have that introduced?
02:42Oh, yes.
02:43Okay, so ordered.
02:47Two years earlier, comedian Stephen Colbert
02:51had joked on his show
02:53that following the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill
02:56in the Gulf of Mexico,
02:58it should be renamed Gulf of America
03:00because we broke it, we bought it.
03:03Even the president of Mexico, Claudia Scheinbaum,
03:06joked that the United States be referred to
03:09as America Mexicana, its seventh century name.
03:13While Republicans bring up bills that are literal jokes,
03:17I do not see the humor.
03:18As Americans are struggling,
03:20as our children's public education is getting dismantled,
03:25as our nation's war secrets
03:27are being shared via text messages,
03:30as cost of living continues to rise,
03:34here Republicans are considering a bill
03:37that does nothing to address real issues
03:40of the American people.
03:42Here Republicans are making a joke out of this body
03:46and our jobs to serve.
03:48Thank you, and I yield back.
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