James Abourezk

James George Abourezk (born February 24, 1931) is an American attorney and politician served as a United States Representative and United States Senator from South Dakota. He was the first Greek Orthodox Christian of Lebanese-Antiochite descent to serve in the United States Senate. He was generally viewed as critical of US foreign policy in the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) area, particularly regarding Palestine and Israel. A Democrat, he represented South Dakota in the United States Senate from 1973 until 1979. He was the author of the Indian Child Welfare Act, passed by Congress in 1978 to try to preserve Indian families and tribal culture, by arranging for placement of Indian children in homes of their cultures, as well as to reunite them with families. It gives preference to tribal courts in custody of Indian children domiciled on reservations, and concurrent but presumptive jurisdiction in cases of children outside the reservation.

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