[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 9 (Friday, January 30, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E80]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN MEMORY OF SANDY ELSTER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANE HARMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 30, 2004

  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to say goodbye to a dear friend and 
neighbor.
  Earlier this week, I received news that local activist and 
businessman Sandy Elster passed away at his Venice, California home at 
age 86.
  Sandy was a true progressive, who cared intensely about policy. He 
volunteered for my first congressional campaign and was generous with 
both his time and ideas. He was unafraid to speak out, whether he 
agreed or not with my positions. Indeed, I know that many of my views 
were shaped by the discussions we had during our bike rides and 
brunches along our coastal bike path.
  Sandy was known, in particular, for his environmental activism. In 
recent years, he was a consultant to the Metropolitan Transit Authority 
to develop a non-polluting, mass transit system. He drove one of the 
first electric cars, the EV-1, made by General Motors, and later became 
an advocate for the hybrid Toyota Prius and persuaded his friends to 
buy it.
  Sandy also led local efforts to protect the California least tern, a 
small gray and white seabird that was added to the endangered species 
list in the mid-1970s. After moving to Venice in the early 1970s, he 
helped cut through red tape to erect a fence around a plot of sand 
about half the size of a football field to keep dogs, cats and other 
predators away from tern eggs and chicks. Today, the least tern 
population is stable and growing because of his stewardship.
  I know that one of his proudest accomplishments was seeing then-
President Ronald Reagan sign the U.N. Genocide Convention--an agreement 
whose ratification he spent many years working to secure. But beyond 
making genocide a crime under international law, he believed it 
important that our citizens know the horror of genocide, its roots, and 
the need for vigilance. During the 1980s, he was instrumental in the 
campaign that resulted in legislation to require California's public 
schools to teach about genocide to students in seventh through 12th 
grade.
  It's emblematic of Sandy's active life that the service to his memory 
was held at the Beverly Hills Tennis Club. He was an avid tennis player 
and biker, and I found it challenging to keep up with him.
  My thoughts are with his spectacular wife and partner of 56 years, 
Ernestine, and his family. Sandy was very special.

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