Navy’s plan to honor Cesar Chavez irks lawmaker

The United States Navy has reportedly decided to name a Lewis and Clark-class cargo ship after the late Latino labor organizer Cesar Chavez. The decision, which is expected to be formally announced today, has caused no small amount of controversy.

Congressman Duncan Hunter, R-California, has objected to the Navy's decision. In a statement released by his office, the congressman wrote, "Naming a ship after Cesar Chavez goes right along with other recent decisions by the Navy that appears to be more about making a political statement than upholding the Navy's history and tradition."

Hunter went on to argue that it makes more sense to honor Marine Corps Sgt. Rafael Peralta, "who was nominated for the Medal of Honor for action in Iraq--or WWII Medal of Honor recipient John Finn, a lifelong San Diego resident."

The Chavez controversy inspired searches on John Murtha, a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania. Some may recall that the Navy named a ship after the representative and sparked a big controversy in the process. In 2006, Murtha accused Marines in the Iraqi city of Haditha of killing "innocent civilians in cold blood." Many felt that, in light of that accusation, naming a ship after Murtha was inappropriate.

The current controversy has sparked a slew of Web searches on Chavez, who died in 1993. Over the past 24 hours, online lookups for "cesar chavez" and "cesar chavez biography" have both surged by more than 1,000 percent. Searches for "cesar chavez navy career" also jumped. He did, in fact, serve in the Navy for several years during World War II.

For those who aren't familiar with Chavez, he is best known for founding the National Farm Workers Association in 1962. Chavez has earned tremendous credit for helping to improve the status and working conditions for farm workers across the country and around the world. In 1994, President Bill Clinton honored Chavez with a posthumous Medal of Freedom.

This would hardly mark the first time Chavez had something named in his honor. Countless schools, roads, and city parks are named after him. However, Hunter argues that a Navy ship isn't appropriate, and there are some Chavez supporters who see his point.

A report by CNN's Charley Keyes quotes Randy Shaw, executive director of San Francisco's Tenderloin Housing Clinic, as saying that Chavez's "absolute core beliefs was nonviolence." Shaw goes on to speculate that Chavez probably wouldn't have wanted a military vessel named after him.

(1966 file photo shows Cesar Chavez, leader of the National Farm Workers Association, speaking to the press in San Francisco, Calif. AP)