James Abourezk

James Abourezk
Abourezk in 1977
Chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee
In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1979
Preceded by	Joseph C. O'Mahoney (1947)
Succeeded by	John Melcher
United States Senator from South Dakota
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979
Preceded by	Karl Mundt
Succeeded by	Larry Pressler
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Dakota's 2nd district
In office January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1973
Preceded by	E. Y. Berry
Succeeded by	James Abdnor
Personal details
Born	James George Abourezk (1931-02-24)February 24, 1931 Wood, South Dakota, U.S.
Died	February 24, 2023(2023-02-24) (aged 92) Sioux Falls, South Dakota, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Mary Ann Houlton ​ ​ (m. 1952; div. 1981)​ Margaret Bethea ​ ​ (m. 1982, divorced)​ Sanaa Dieb ​ (m. 1991)​
Children	3
Education	South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (BS) University of South Dakota (JD)
Military service
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1948–1952
Battles/wars	Korean War

James George Abourezk (/ˈæbərɛsk/ AB-ur-esk;^[1] February 24, 1931 – February 24, 2023) was an American attorney and politician from South Dakota. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in both chambers of the United States Congress for one term each; a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1973 and a member of the United States Senate from 1973 to 1979; he was the first Arab to serve in the United States Senate.^[2] In 1980, Abourezk founded the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) with the goal of counteracting anti-Arab racism in the country.^[3] He served in the United States Navy during the Korean War, but was also a critic of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, particularly with regard to the Arab–Israeli conflict. Under his leadership, the ADC became especially active following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent Gulf War, during which he became concerned about the rising rate of targeted hate crimes against Arabs and also against people misidentified as Arabs.

Abourezk represented South Dakota in the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1973 and in the United States Senate from 1973 to 1979. He was the author of the Indian Child Welfare Act, which was passed by the United States Congress in 1978 to help preserve the families and culture of Native Americans. As a federal law, it gives Native tribal governments exclusive jurisdiction over children who reside on or are domiciled on an Indian reservation; and it gives them concurrent, but presumptive jurisdiction over foster care placement proceedings for children who do not live on a Native reservation.