Congressman Gonzalez Introduces Hands Off Our Boca Chica Beach Act
Legislation protects the Boca Chica Beach name and would bring greater transparency to the federal renaming process.
Contact: Alexis Torres
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) introduced the Hands off Our Boca Chica Beach Act to federally protect the historic site from unnecessary name changes. His legislation would codify the name Boca Chica Beach and require the Domestic Names Committee—a key federal division of the U.S. Board of Geographic Names (BGN)—to notify the respective Member of Congress of a proposed name change that affects their district.
Geographic names established by an act of Congress, or those introduced as proposed legislation, are not bound by the BGN. Therefore, Congressman Gonzalez’s bill takes precedence over BGN’s principles, policies, and procedures, and no future proposal to rename Boca Chica Beach during this Congress will be considered.
“It is absurd that a name proposal from outside our state was able to threaten the very essence of a cultural and historic landmark in South Texas,” said Congressman Gonzalez. “The severe lack of transparency from the Domestic Names Committee almost shut out the people of Cameron County from a decision that directly impacted our daily lives—and would have created a financial burden for local municipalities responsible for replacing signage and other publicly used identifiers. While our community was able to quickly band together to stop this initial proposal from being adopted, my bill would ensure that Boca Chica Beach always remains the People’s Beach.”
On the evening of July 8, 2026, the BGN’s Domestic Names Committee provided less than 24 hours' notice to the people of Cameron County of a vote to rename the beach to “Cyber Beach.” The renaming request was driven by an individual from Mississippi and unanimously opposed by local officials and SpaceX. In response, Congressman Gonzalez immediately contacted the U.S. Department of the Interior and formally urged the Domestic Names Committee to reject the proposal. His call was heeded, and the proposal was rejected.
The full bill text can be found here.