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List of Arab and Middle Eastern Americans in the United States Congress

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]

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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
	Rubén 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