James Abourezk

James George Abourezk ( ; 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, and was the first Arab to serve in the U.S. Senate. After he left Congress, he founded the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) in 1980 with the goal of counteracting anti-Arab racism in the country.

Abourezk served in the United States Navy during the Korean War. He represented South Dakota in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971 to 1973 and in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 1979. He was the primary author of the Indian Child Welfare Act, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1978 to help preserve the families and culture of Native Americans. As a federal law, the Indian Child Welfare Act 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. The year prior, Abourezk successfully introduced the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in the Senate.

Abourezk was 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 mistaken for Arabs.

Early life and education James George Abourezk was born in Wood, South Dakota, to a family of Lebanese Greek Orthodox Christians. He was one of five children and both of his parents were immigrants from Lebanon: his mother Lena Abourezk (née Mickel) was a homemaker, and his father Charles Abourezk was an owner of two general stores. Growing up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, he spoke only Arabic at home and did not learn English until he went to elementary school. Following 12 weeks of boot camp, he enrolled in Electricians' Mates School, after which he was sent to support Navy ships stationed in Japan. In 1970, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives from South Dakota's 2nd Congressional district, which would later be eliminated following the 1980 census.

In 1972, Abourezk was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served from 1973 to 1979, after which he chose not to seek a second term. He was the first chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. In 1974, Time magazine named Senator Abourezk as one of the "200 Faces for the Future". He also authored and passed the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, which provided Indian tribes with greater autonomy. The BIA made grants to the tribes but they could manage contracts and funds to control their own destiny. That legislation also reduced the direct influence of the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the tribes. Abourezk introduced legislation that resulted in the banning of overseas police assistance in 1974, and the closure of the OPS in 1975. who were in a standoff with federal law enforcement after demanding that the federal government honor its historical treaties with the Oglala Sioux nation. The summer after the occupation, Abourezk introduced the American Indian Policy Review Commission Act, which created the eleven-member commission, and served as its chairman until its landmark report was published in 1977. He took the gavel as chairman of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs from its creation in 1977 to 1979, when he left the Senate.

In 1976, Abourezk ordered the General Accounting Office carry out an investigation after doctor and lawyer Connie Redbird Pinkerman-Uri published a report suggesting that up to a quarter of Native American women had been involuntarily sterilised.

Abourezk was an early champion of more direct democracy through a National initiative process, similar to the state initiative process adopted by South Dakota in 1898. In July 1977, he co-sponsored a proposal for a constitutional amendment that would allow federal laws to be enacted through popular vote, together with fellow Senator Mark Hatfield (R-OR). Under the Abourezk resolution, voters could put legislation on the national election ballot if they secured signatures from three percent of voters in the previous presidential election.

Advocacy

After leaving the Senate, Abourezk served as legal counsel for the Islamic Republic of Iran in Washington, D.C., leading The New York Times to call him "Iran's Man in Washington". He defended the Islamic Republic in lawsuits seeking payment for contracts entered into by the former Shah's government, and sought to recoup Iranian assets that were allegedly taken by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his wife.

As a senator, Abourezk was outraged by the 1967 USS Liberty incident and publicly condemned about the circumstances of the attack: "The shame of the U.S.S. Liberty incident is that our sailors were treated as though they were enemies, rather than the patriots and heroes that they were. There is no other incident beyond Israeli attack on the U.S.S. Liberty – that shows the power of the Israeli Lobby by being able to silence successive American governments. Allowing the lies told by the Israelis and their minions in the U.S. is disheartening to all of us who are proud of our servicemen." In 1980, Abourezk cofounded the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a grassroots civil rights organization. He was later joined by Jane Fonda and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz as plaintiffs, and settled the lawsuit with the Internet site in 2005.

In 2007, Abourezk gave an interview to the Hezbollah funded news channel Al-Manar. In this interview Abourezk said that he believed that Zionists used the terrorists that perpetrated the 9/11 terrorist attacks as a way to sow Islamophobia, that Zionists control the United States Congress, and that Hezbollah and Hamas are resistance fighters. He continued to criticize Israel in 2014, writing that "ending the occupation... would end the rockets fired by Hamas."

After his retirement from the Senate, Abourezk worked as a lawyer and writer in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He continued to be active in supporting tribal sovereignty and culture. In July 2015 he spoke out against a suit filed against the ICWA by the Goldwater Institute; it was one of three suits seeking to overturn the act. Some states and adoption groups, who make money off adoptions, have opposed any prohibitions on their placements of Native American children. Abourezk considered this his signature legislation and the new rules instrumental in protecting Native American children and preserving tribal families. He noted that the late Senator Barry Goldwater, his friend and colleague, had voted for the legislation in 1977 and had often consulted with him in tribal matters.

Death He died at home in Sioux Falls on February 24, 2023, on his 92nd birthday. His funeral was held on Sunday, May 28, 2023, at the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science in downtown Sioux Falls.

Personal life Abourezk was married three times. His first marriage was to Mary Ann Houlton in 1952, which ended in divorce in 1981.

Abourezk was a Greek Orthodox Christian. He lived in South Dakota for most of his life.