[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 10, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S10206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             ELIOT H. BANK

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, it is with great pleasure that I 
recognize and honor Eliot H. Bank for his selection to receive the 
Association of Reconditioner's [ACR] Morris Hershson Award of Merit.
  Eliot H. Bank was born in Chicago, IL, on March 13, 1935, to Sam & 
Mollie Bank. The family moved to Detroit in 1937. Like me, Eliot still 
considers himself incredibly lucky to have grown up in Detroit. Through 
his parents he gained an appreciation for many of the finer things in 
Michigan, including Hank Greenberg and the Detroit Tigers, fishing in 
the many lakes with his father--and later his son, Coney Island hot 
dogs, the Detroit Lions, and Belle Isle. From his parents he also 
learned the importance of public service and political activism. He was 
active in the early years of Detroit's public television station 
channel 56, and remains very active in many charitable organizations. 
He also ran for local public office in 1972.
  Eliot's career in the drum reconditioning business has been long and 
varied. For the past 15 years, he has been executive vice president of 
Columbus Steel Drum Co. which operates one of the largest 
reconditioning plants in the world, and one which many consider to be 
the standard of the industry.
  A member of ACR since 1960, Eliot has held almost every post in the 
association, including 3 years as chairman, 20 years on the board of 
directors, 8 years on the executive board, and the chairmanship of 
nearly every committee. Eliot is proudest of two of his accomplishments 
during his ACR chairmanship: Establishing new generation and finishing 
the work of his predecessors in establishing the ACR code of operating 
practices. New generation was initiated when Eliot decided to improve 
ACR's educational efforts toward the younger generation working in the 
industry. He recognized that within this younger generation were the 
future industry leaders.
  In 1981, Eliot established drum management programs at 35 major 
automotive plants in the Midwest. This program, which continues today, 
provides the proper disposal and recycling of empty industrial 
containers that contain residues of hazardous materials.
  In 1991, Eliot was part of a team put together by the International 
Confederation of Drum Reconditioners [ICDR]. They attended the United 
Nations meeting in Geneva and were successful in implementing the rules 
and regulations governing reconditioned steel drums in chapter 9 of the 
U.N. Code. From 1993 to 1996, Eliot served as chairman of the ICDR.
  He is very proud of his family--wife, Elizabeth, an art and antiques 
dealer; daughter, Cindy Bank, Federal relations officer in Washington, 
DC, for the University of Michigan; son, Michael Bank, general manager 
of Columbus Steel Drum Co. in Columbus, OH; daughter, Katherine 
Garland, a designer in Chicago; daughter, Amy Katz, head of human 
resources, Somerset Collection, in Troy, MI; daughter-in-law, Patty 
Bank; son-in-law, Larry Garland; four terrific grandchildren--Brock and 
Shelby Bank and Addie and Ellery Garland; his sister and brother-in-
law, Iris and Arnold Kaufman; and soon to be son-in-law, Todd Franklin.
  I know that my Senate colleagues will join me in congratulating Eliot 
H. Bank on being awarded the Morris Hershson Award of Merit.

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