Are you here to communicate your own view, that of the White House, or both? Please name all the people with whom you have had communications in preparing for this testimony. What does the White House expect from your testimony?

Personally I had never been to Cuba, and organizationally we have been talking for a while about figuring out a way for young people to be able to go. In the past we had the US-Cuba Youth Exchange, but because of licensing problems and tighter restrictions by the Bush Administration, we were unable to continue that program.

Yes the city of San Francisco did just recently ban plastic bags. Large supermarkets and pharmacies there must eliminate plastic shopping bags by early 2008 in favor of bags made from either paper or compostable and biodegradable cornstarch.

I am not a reader of biographies and I am not a fan of learning history by studying the lives of “great men.” Having said that, I believe that ¡Hugo!: The Hugo Chavez Story From Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution by Bart Jones is one of the most important books of 2007.

If ever a reconfirmation were necessary that our detractors refuse to meet our critique of the Indo-US nuclear deal and the larger context in which it is placed, i.e., growing strategic relationship with US imperialism at this juncture of world politics, on the strength of our reasoning, such a reconfirmation has come once again.

The decision made by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to halt his Mahdi Army’s attacks on occupation forces and Iraqi security is likely to be considered the single most promising breakthrough for the US military in Iraq.