Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act
A Democratic bill with no cosponsors
Last activity — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
In committee
Introduced and handed to a committee in the chamber it started in.
The committee holds it, and most bills are never heard from again. A hearing or a committee vote would be news; silence is the usual outcome, and it kills the bill without anyone voting against it.
Its path through Congress
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
This bill, titled the "Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act," aims to prevent the renaming of the Great Lakes. It specifically prohibits the President, the Secretary of the Interior, and relevant federal employees from altering the official names of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, or Lake Ontario. Additionally, the act nullifies Executive Order 14422, which sought to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America. The bill also prevents the implementation of any substantially similar executive actions. Finally, it forbids the use of federal funds to carry out the actions described in the aforementioned executive order.
Yes
- Scored +1
Would people in rural areas be better off under this?
The bill protects the established geographic names of the Great Lakes which are central to rural and regional identity.
- Scored +1
Does this better protect air, water and wildlife?
The bill preserves the traditional geographic identity of the Great Lakes through legislative stability.
- Scored +1
Does this give the federal government more power?
The bill uses federal law to restrict the President's unilateral authority to rename geographic features.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Preservation of Geographic Names: The bill prevents the President, the Secretary of the Interior, and other federal employees from changing the official names of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, or Lake Ontario (Section 2). This ensures that the current names of these Great Lakes remain unchanged.
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Nullification of Executive Order 14422: This provision ensures that Executive Order 14422, which intended to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America, has no force or effect (Section 3(a)).
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Prevention of Fund Misuse: The bill stops federal funds from being used to implement or administer the changes requested by Executive Order 14422 or any similar actions (Section 3(c)).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- No specific negative impacts are mentioned in the provided text.
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Tap or hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Would people in rural areas be better off under this? — The bill protects the established geographic names of the Great Lakes which are central to rural and regional identity.
- Environment Energy And Infrastructure
- Does this better protect air, water and wildlife? — The bill preserves the traditional geographic identity of the Great Lakes through legislative stability.
- Governance And Ideology
- Does this give the federal government more power? — The bill uses federal law to restrict the President's unilateral authority to rename geographic features.
- 9/14/2026
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
- Introduced in Senate