Steve Holland’s bill to change Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America makes International news

Daily Mail – Gulf of Mexico? That’s the Gulf of America, to you! Mississippi legislator pokes at opponents with bill proposing name change

Mississippi state Rep Steve Holland wants to reclaim the Gulf of Mexico from the Mexicans. A better name, he says, is the Gulf of America.

Sound ridiculous? Holland, a Democrat, says it’s no more ridiculous than the political agenda of the Republicans who recently took control the state legislature.

The funeral home director from a small town outside Tupelo submitted a bill that would change the name of the the gulf ‘for all official purposes within the state of Mississippi.’

2/9/12

AP – Miss. lawmaker: ‘Gulf of America’ bill was a joke

All the people outraged about the Mississippi bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America’’ have missed its satirical intent, the sponsor said Thursday.

State Rep. Steve Holland, a populist Democrat known for over-the-top gestures, said he was tickled that his provocation had rocketed across the Internet.

Holland says the measure is meant to mock other bills that would crack down on illegal immigration. At least six such bills have already been assigned for committee consideration in the state’s current legislative session, and more could be on the way.

AP
2/9/12