When he took office, President Donald Trump ordered the United States to rename the Gulf of Mexico “the Gulf of America,” claiming the waterway has long been a vital resource for our once-developing country.
Six months later, Republican state senator Michael Testa is recommending that the Garden State recognize the Delaware Bay as the Bay of New Jersey, following the Trump administration’s lead.
Testa, who frequently supports Trump on policy, is a representative for Cumberland and Cape May counties, which are adjacent to the bay. The bay is an essential body of water for transit, business, and tourism.
Testa said the legislation to rename the bay is one of two laws he submitted on Thursday, according to NJ Advance Media. The second would regain a portion of the shoreline of Salem County that Delaware had claimed in a long-standing border agreement.
On Friday, he promoted the proposed Bay Bill on X, the social networking site formerly known as Twitter.
According to Testa (R-Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland), “I look at the robust fishing industry—commercial fishing industry and recreational fishing industry of the State of New Jersey.” They’ve had a claim to that for a long enough period of time, in my opinion, that we must refer to the bay where we fish as Delaware Bay.
According to Delaware’s government website, the bay has been known as New Jersey’s southern neighbor since 1610 and is named for Thomas West, the third baron de la Warr who oversaw the Virginia colony.
On the second day of his inauguration, Trump signed an order directing the U.S. Department of the Interior to include the Gulf of America on government-issued maps and other materials.
In order to reflect the new classification and alert pertinent federal institutions, Testa’s proposed law requires state agencies to add The Bay of New Jersey in publications, signage, websites, and other items.
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