[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 86 (Friday, June 24, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1347-E1348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO HOWARD ELINSON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 24, 2005

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker. Mr. Waxman and I ask our colleagues to join 
us today in honoring Dr. Howard Elinson, who was born on the 11th of 
January, 1940 in New York City and who passed away on Friday June 17th, 
2005 in Los Angeles at Midway Hospital.
  Howard earned his B.A. and his Ph.D. in Sociology at UCLA. He taught 
for 1 year at Yale and for 7 years at UCLA. He worked as Administrative 
Assistant and Consultant for 27 years for Congressman Henry Waxman. Six 
of those years were when Waxman was a State Assemblyman.
  Howard is survived by his beloved and devoted brother Mark who is an 
admired and respected high school teacher of Social Studies in the Los 
Angeles City School system. He also serves as an Adviser to the L.A. 
Unified School District, instructing Social Studies teachers on the 
best techniques for teaching Social Studies.
  Howard Elinson was and is unforgettable to any or all who knew or met 
him (no matter how casually or for how short a time). He changed the 
life of everyone in his personal orbit by his magnetic personality his 
unique insight into the human condition, his sharp wit his gigantic 
intellect his mastery of any human behavior subject, and his generosity 
and kindness.
  But, unknown to most Californians and ``Angelenos'' (and unmentioned 
in media accounts) Howard Elinson changed the face of California and 
Los Angeles politics.
  It was Howard Elinson who conceived and invented individually 
targeted computerized mail--the campaign technique that was 
instrumental in the 1968 primary election victory of Henry Waxman for 
State Assembly (by, still to this date, the largest margin against an 
incumbent--this one a 26 year incumbent--of his own party), and the 
1972 primary and general election victory of Howard Berman for State

[[Page E1348]]

Assembly (the general against, ironically, a 26 year Republican 
incumbent).
  It was Howard Elinson's ideas that were instrumental in electing 
Congressman Henry Waxman Congressman Howard Berman, Congressman Mel 
Levine Congressman Julian Dixon State Senator Herschel Rosenthal, State 
Assemblyman Burt Margolin, State Assemblyman Terry Friedman and 
countless others.
  And it was Howard Elinson who inspired the strategy and direct mail 
efforts that led to the election of Mayor Tom Bradley in 1973.
  But Howard Elinson's life was much more than about politics. As a 
devout and Orthodox Jew his faith came first. And imagine this 
dark suited, yarmulke wearing, fast-talking man writing the ``early 
60's seminal study'' of voting behavior for his Ph.D. thesis. He 
conducted lengthy and open-ended interviews, drawing out in their homes 
50 white working class voters in Bell, California--the then-place-of-
entry of the vast immigration from Oklahoma, the mid-west and the South 
to Southern California.

  These Christian and working class people had perhaps never before met 
a Jew--and certainly not a readily recognizable Orthodox Jew. Yet they 
opened their hearts to this amazing man. They trusted him--no matter 
how ``New York'' he spoke, no matter how foreign he might have looked. 
That was the uniqueness, the special nature of Howard Elinson.
  Perhaps inspired by his faith, or by his innate decency, Howard 
Elinson affected the lives of everyone who knew him. Many dozens of 
interns, staff, and budding politicians that came through Henry 
Waxman's office sought Howard Elinson's advice and counsel--both 
personal and career. Hundreds of young people confused by the conflicts 
between a traditional religious life and modernity sought Howard 
Elinson's advice on how to cope--``who better to ask?'' Children 
flocked to him--no child was unworthy of his attention, his sense of 
playfulness, his devotion to the child's value as a human being. No one 
in need (whether for a religious cause or in personal need) was turned 
down for a contribution. Howard Elinson's generosity was open ended and 
well known.
  The untimely death of Howard Elinson was not just a loss to his 
family and friends, but to the people who have had in him a champion of 
a tolerant, liberal, and more humane America.

                          ____________________