From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is a list of all
Arab Americans
and
Middle Eastern Americans
who have ever served in the
United States Congress
. This list includes
North Africans in the United States
who identify as
Arabs
as well as Middle Eastern Americans
who are not Arabs
.
The first Arab American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives was
George A. Kasem
in 1959, and the first Arab-American U.S. senator was
James Abourezk
in 1973. In the
115th Congress
, there were six U.S. representatives and no U.S. senators of Arab-American descent serving in Congress.
[1]
[2]
On November 6, 2018, four additional Arab Americans, all of whom are female, were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives:
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
,
Ilhan Omar
,
Donna Shalala
and
Rashida Tlaib
. Tlaib and Omar were also the first Muslim women in Congress.
[3]
The U.S. House of Representatives currently has five Arab-American members.
The first
Assyrian American
to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives was
Adam Benjamin
in 1977,
[4]
and the first Iranian-American U.S. Representative was
Stephanie Bice
in 2021.
[5]
There currently are one Assyrian-American and one Iranian-American U.S. Representative serving in Congress.
Senate
[
edit
]
Picture
|
Senator
(lifespan)
|
Arab or Middle Eastern ethnicity
|
Party
|
State
|
Term start
|
Term end
|
Notes
|
|
James Abourezk
(1931?2023)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
South Dakota
|
January 3, 1973
|
January 3, 1979
|
Retired
[6]
|
|
George J. Mitchell
(born 1933)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
Maine
|
May 17, 1980
|
January 3, 1995
|
Retired
[7]
|
|
James Abdnor
(1923?2012)
|
Lebanese
|
Republican
|
South Dakota
|
January 3, 1981
|
January 3, 1987
|
Lost reelection
[8]
|
|
Spencer Abraham
(born 1952)
|
Lebanese
|
Republican
|
Michigan
|
January 3, 1995
|
January 3, 2001
|
Lost reelection
[9]
[10]
|
|
John E. Sununu
(born 1964)
|
Palestinian
,
Lebanese
|
Republican
|
New Hampshire
|
January 3, 2003
|
January 3, 2009
|
Lost reelection
[11]
[12]
|
House of Representatives
[
edit
]
Picture
|
Representative
(lifespan)
|
Arab or Middle Eastern ethnicity
|
Party
|
State
|
Term start
|
Term end
|
Notes
|
|
George A. Kasem
(1919?2002)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
California
|
January 3, 1959
|
January 3, 1961
|
Lost reelection
|
|
Abraham Kazen
(1919?1987)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
Texas
|
January 3, 1967
|
January 3, 1985
|
Lost renomination
|
|
James Abourezk
(1931?2023)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
South Dakota
|
January 3, 1971
|
January 3, 1973
|
Retired to run successfully for
U.S. Senator from South Dakota
|
|
James Abdnor
(1923?2012)
|
Lebanese
|
Republican
|
South Dakota
|
January 3, 1973
|
January 3, 1981
|
Retired to run successfully for
U.S. Senator from South Dakota
|
|
Toby Moffett
(born 1944)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
Connecticut
|
January 3, 1975
|
January 3, 1983
|
Retired to run unsuccessfully for
U.S. Senator from Connecticut
|
|
Adam Benjamin
(1935?1982)
|
Assyrian
|
Democratic
|
Indiana
|
January 3, 1977
|
September 7, 1982
|
Died in office
|
|
Mary Rose Oakar
(born 1940)
|
Lebanese
,
Syrian
|
Democratic
|
Ohio
|
January 3, 1977
|
January 3, 1993
|
Lost reelection
|
|
Nick Rahall
(born 1949)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
West Virginia
|
January 3, 1977
|
January 3, 2015
|
Lost reelection
|
|
Pat Danner
(born 1934)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
Missouri
|
January 3, 1993
|
January 3, 2001
|
Retired
|
|
Anna Eshoo
(born 1942)
|
Assyrian
|
Democratic
|
California
|
January 3, 1993
|
Incumbent
|
|
|
John Baldacci
(born 1955)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
Maine
|
January 3, 1995
|
January 3, 2003
|
Retired to run successfully for
Governor of Maine
|
|
Ray LaHood
(born 1945)
|
Lebanese
|
Republican
|
Illinois
|
January 3, 1995
|
January 3, 2009
|
Retired to become
U.S. Secretary of Transportation
|
|
Chris John
(born 1960)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
Louisiana
|
January 3, 1997
|
January 3, 2005
|
Retired to run unsuccessfully for
U.S. Senator from Louisiana
|
|
John E. Sununu
(born 1964)
|
Palestinian
,
Lebanese
|
Republican
|
New Hampshire
|
January 3, 1997
|
January 3, 2003
|
Retired to run successfully for
U.S. Senator from New Hampshire
|
|
Darrell Issa
(born 1953)
|
Lebanese
|
Republican
|
California
|
January 3, 2001
|
January 3, 2019
|
Retired
|
January 3, 2021
|
Incumbent
|
|
|
Charles Boustany
(born 1956)
|
Lebanese
|
Republican
|
Louisiana
|
January 3, 2005
|
January 3, 2017
|
Retired to run unsuccessfully for
U.S. Senator from Louisiana
|
|
Justin Amash
(born 1980)
|
Palestinian
,
Syrian
|
Republican
(2011?2019)
|
Michigan
|
January 3, 2011
|
January 3, 2021
|
Retired
|
Independent
(2019?2020)
|
Libertarian
(2020?2021)
|
|
Richard L. Hanna
(1951?2020)
|
Lebanese
|
Republican
|
New York
|
January 3, 2011
|
January 3, 2017
|
Retired
|
|
Ralph Abraham
(born 1954)
|
Lebanese
|
Republican
|
Louisiana
|
January 3, 2015
|
January 3, 2021
|
Retired
|
|
Gwen Graham
(born 1963)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
Florida
|
January 3, 2015
|
January 3, 2017
|
Retired
|
|
Garret Graves
(born 1972)
|
Lebanese
|
Republican
|
Louisiana
|
January 3, 2015
|
Incumbent
|
|
|
Darin LaHood
(born 1968)
|
Lebanese
|
Republican
|
Illinois
|
September 10, 2015
|
Incumbent
|
|
|
Charlie Crist
(born 1956)
|
Cypriot
,
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
Florida
|
January 3, 2017
|
August 31, 2022
|
Resigned
|
|
Ruben Kihuen
(born 1980)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
Nevada
|
January 3, 2017
|
January 3, 2019
|
Retired
|
|
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
(born 1971)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
Florida
|
January 3, 2019
|
January 3, 2021
|
Lost reelection
|
|
Ilhan Omar
(born 1981)
|
Somali
[Note 1]
|
Democratic
|
Minnesota
|
January 3, 2019
|
Incumbent
|
|
|
Donna Shalala
(born 1941)
|
Lebanese
|
Democratic
|
Florida
|
January 3, 2019
|
January 3, 2021
|
Lost reelection
|
|
Rashida Tlaib
(born 1976)
|
Palestinian
|
Democratic
|
Michigan
|
January 3, 2019
|
Incumbent
|
|
|
Stephanie Bice
(born 1973)
|
Iranian
|
Republican
|
Oklahoma
|
January 3, 2021
|
Incumbent
|
|
References
[
edit
]
- Notes
- References
- ^
"Meet Arab American Members in 115th Congress - Arab American Institute"
.
www.aaiusa.org
.
- ^
"Arab American Members of Congress - Arab American Leadership Council Political Action Committee"
.
www.aaleadershipcouncil.org
.
- ^
Boorstein, Michelle.
"The nation's first two Muslim congresswomen are sworn in, surrounded by the women they inspired"
.
Washington Post
. Retrieved
January 3,
2019
.
- ^
"Assyrians in Middle America A Historical and Demographic Study of the Chicago Assyrian Community"
(PDF)
. jaas.org
. Retrieved
December 14,
2012
.
- ^
Firozi, Paulina.
"House GOP chipped away at Democratic majority. They can thank female candidates"
– via www.washingtonpost.com.
- ^
Hall, Loretta (1999). "James Abourezk".
Arab American biography
. Vol. I: A-J. Detroit: U.X.L. pp. 18?25.
ISBN
978-0-7876-2953-3
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (
link
)
- ^
Hall, Loretta (1999). "George John Mitchell".
Arab American biography
. Vol. II: K-Z. Detroit: U.X.L. pp. 311?316.
ISBN
978-0-7876-2953-3
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (
link
)
- ^
Schudel, Matt (May 16, 2012).
"James Abdnor, GOP congressman and senator from South Dakota, dies at 89"
.
The Washington Post
.
- ^
Hall, Loretta (1999). "Spencer Abraham".
Arab American biography
. Vol. I: A-J. Detroit: U.X.L. pp. 33?38.
ISBN
978-0-7876-2953-3
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (
link
)
- ^
"Bioguide Search"
.
bioguide.congress.gov
. Retrieved
2022-02-17
.
- ^
Cromwell, Sharon (2008).
Arab Americans
. Florida: Rourke Publishing. p. 37.
ISBN
978-1-60472-751-7
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (
link
)
- ^
"John E. Sununu"
.
www.congress.gov
. Retrieved
2022-02-17
.
- ^
"Arab American Roster"
.
Arab American Institute
. Retrieved
March 11,
2019
.
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Senate
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House
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