GOP rep. pushes bill to name Nevada peak for Reagan instead of first woman lt. governor

A bill introduced by Tea Party-supported Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) on Thursday would name a 4,000-foot Nevada mountain after former President Ronald Reagan and block attempts currently underway to name the same peak after the state's first woman lieutenant governor.

The Hill reported on Friday that Heck's efforts coincided with Reagan's birthday and supported a similar proposal from the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project (RRLP), which is sponsored by Grover Norquists' Americans for Tax Reform.

"He left America stronger, freer, and safer than the day he became President," Norquist insisted last year. "Adding his name to the short list of great American presidents who have mountains named after them is an honor richly deserved."

However, legislation introduced in October by Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) sought to name the same peak after former Nevada Lt. Gov. Maude Frazier, the first woman elected to the office.

But Heck's bill includes a provision that would block Titus' plan and, instead, name a smaller 3,952-foot peak for Frazier.

"I'm extremely happy we were able to find a compromise," Mount Reagan Project President Chuck Muth said. "Congresswoman Titus can have her mountain, and we can have ours. I can't thank Rep. Heck enough for helping our effort to make this honor for President Reagan a reality in Nevada."

In recent years, Heck's opponents have repeatedly criticized him for what they call an "anti-woman" record, including blocking the Paycheck Fairness Act, voting to defund Planned Parenthood, opposing legislation to force insurance companies to cover HPV vaccines, voting against domestic violence prevention, and backing a bill that would have banned abortions in Washington, D.C even in the case of rape and incest.

“Try as he might, the one thing Joe Heck will never be able to do is change the exceptionally anti-women record he’s compiled in just a few short years in office,” House Majority PAC Communications Director Andy Stone observed late last year.