Chester Craig Hosmer (May 6, 1915 – October 11, 1982) was an American lawyer and politician who served eleven terms as a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

from 1953 to 1974.

Early life and career

Hosmer was born in

Brea, California Brea (; ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States. The population as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census was 47,325. It is southeast of Los Angeles. Brea is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The city ...

, in Orange County. He attended the public schools, graduated from

Long Beach Polytechnic High School Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a four-year public high school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States. The school serves portions of Long Beach, including Bixby ...

. Hosmer graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1937. He attended the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (branded as Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparati ...

in 1938 and graduated from the

University of Southern California Law School The University of Southern California Gould School of Law located in Los Angeles, California, is the law school of the University of Southern California. The oldest law school in the Southwestern United States, USC Law traces its beginnings to 18 ...

in 1940. Hosmer was admitted to the bar in 1940 and began practice in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

Military career

He enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in July 1940 and advanced to the rank of commander; rear admiral, Naval Reserve.

Legal career

He was an attorney with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission at

Los Alamos, New Mexico Los Alamos (, meaning ''The Poplars'') is a census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, that is recognized as one of the development and creation places of the Nuclear weapon, atomic bomb—the primary objective of ...

and special assistant United States District Attorney for

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

in 1948. He then returned to Long Beach, California to private practice.

Congress

Hosmer was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for election in 1950 to the

Eighty-second Congress The 82nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 1 ...

. He was elected as a Republican to the Eighty-third and to the ten succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1953, until his resignation December 31, 1974. Hosmer voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, and

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but did not vote on the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights move ...

. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1974 to the Ninety-fourth Congress. Representative Hosmer was outraged by the 1967 USS ''Liberty'' incident and was one of the few Congressmen to call for an investigation. He was openly angry about the attack and called for restitution and legal recourse:

"I can only conclude that the coordinated attack by aircraft and motor torpedo boats on the U.S.S. ''Liberty'' 15 1/2 miles north of Sinai on June 8 which killed 34 officers and men of the Navy and wounded another 175 was deliberate. The fact that the U.S.S. ''Liberty'' was a Victory hull vessel, hundreds of which were produced and used by the U.S. Navy during World War II and since, rules out the possibility of mistaken identity. Every ship recognition book in the world has, for years, identified the characteristic Victory hull and superstructure of the U.S.S. ''Liberty'' as U.S. Navy property…Whatever the reason for the attack, it was an act of high piracy. Those responsible should be court-martialed on charges of murder, amongst other counts. The Israel Government should pay full reparations to the United States and indemnities to the families of the Americans killed."

Later career and death

He was president of the American Nuclear Energy Council from 1975 to 1979. He was a resident of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

until his death on October 11, 1982, aboard a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

bound for

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. He was buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

.Burial Detail: Hosmer, Chester Craig
– ANC Explorer

References

External links

at ArlingtonCemetery.net, an unofficial website {{DEFAULTSORT:Hosmer, Craig 1915 births 1982 deaths People from Brea, California United States Navy officers Burials at Arlington National Cemetery University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Michigan Law School alumni USC Gould School of Law alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California People who died at sea Military personnel from California 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives