[2] In 1980, Abourezk founded the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) with the goal of counteracting anti-Arab racism in the country.

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.

James George Abourezk was born in Wood, South Dakota, to a family of Lebanese Greek Orthodox Christians.

[6] Following 12 weeks of boot camp, he enrolled in Electricians' Mates School, after which he was sent to support Navy ships stationed in Japan.

[3][7] Abourezk began a legal practice in Rapid City, South Dakota, and joined the Democratic Party.

[8] In 1970, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives and served from 1971 to 1973, in the South Dakota's 2nd Congressional district which was eliminated in 1983.

[9][1] His signature legislation was the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA, 1978), designed to protect Native American children and families from being torn apart.

[1] As a senator, Abourezk condemned the Office of Public Safety (OPS), a Cold War-era program within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which provided training to foreign police forces and was prone to human rights abuses.

[17] 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.

[19] 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).

[19] His efforts received national media coverage, and Abourezk chaired hearings and testified that the proposal was based on "belief in the wisdom of the American people".

[19] Although the national initiative movement gained additional cosponsors in both the House and Senate in 1978, no further action was taken during the 95th Congress, after which interest waned.

[23] 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.

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.

[10] HuffPost writer James Zogby in 2014 praised Abourezk as a "bold and courageous former Senator" for protesting to the Federal Bureau of Investigation after the Abscam operation.