Waxman Fights Move to Name Economic Zone for Reagan

A senior Democratic congressman has claimed Republicans want to “deify” Ronald Reagan by putting the 40th president’s name on “everything on earth.”

Rep. Henry Waxman said he did not even believe Washington National Airport should have been named after Reagan.

Now Waxman is fighting plans from fellow Californian, Republican Rep. Darryl Issa to name 3.4 million square miles of ocean that form the United States Exclusive Economic Zone after the president who died in 2004, The Hill reports.

“There has been a campaign for deification of Ronald Reagan by the Republicans for some years now, since he has passed away particularly, and this is part of that effort,” the 19-term congressman said.

“They would like to name everything on earth that they can get a hold of ... because his legacy is the only thing they have going for them,” he claimed.

Reagan created the economic zone in a presidential proclamation in 1983. In suggesting the naming move, Issa said, “President Reagan appreciated that America is blessed with an abundance of natural resources and understood that to remain competitive and to promote strong economic growth, we need to effectively develop and responsibly make use of our natural wealth.”