senator fulbright was a very interesting figure. i was talking to one of his aides about what it was that prompted him as a democrat to go against the president of his own party. why did he get so interested in vietnam and learn a lot about it? he sponsored a series of hearings that educated the nation about the war. have we had anything comparable with iraq? afghanistan? i think not. he devoted a tremendous effort to it. he said it was simple. i screwed up his plane reservations. he said he was going to australia and headed -- had to spend 28 hours on the airplane. he said on the way out the door to get him a big book to read. he was given a book on vietnam. he read it. pat holt said that fulbright walked off the airplane and said we cannot win this war. he learned something about the country. we cannot win this war. he started his hearings. anytime i ask a member of congress who is interested in something besides the number one priority back in the district, it is something like that. congressman wolf, i was talking to him the oth

william fulbright, and i never failed to meet a fulbright scholar throughout my travel. we know the world as a better place because of that program. she was introduced earlier. we know that she is, in her own right, every bit as much of a force for international understanding and the peaceful resolution of disputes as was her wonderful husband. i will not go into the details of her biography because it has been presented. but we're grateful to have for on our stage. [applause] >> thank you. i am standing here to introduce the ambassador who is a first- rate diplomat. we are happy to have him with us. born and raised in libya, he started his career in 1968 and went on to malaysia, argentina, and brazil. he has also held a variety of positions him in the ministry of foreign affairs and then on september 2011, and he presented his credentials to president barack obama. we are happy to have him here. he is the first ambassador to the u.s. from a free libya. he practices his profession according to one of senator fulbright's more memorable statements. the making of peace is a

senator fulbright being first and foremost. and lbj claiming he got them on the takeoff on foreign policy so they would be there on any crash landings. .. >> well, i have a different viewpoint. we all like to think the times we live in are completely unique, different, or not as good as the good-old days, but in many republics, we live in the -- respects, we live in the same challenges and debates and talking about the same questions they were talking about in the 1970s, 50s, or the turn of the century, and in the 1960s when the test band treaty was taking place, they thought it was so polarized, why couldn't this be more like the turn of the century withñr a wonderful academic of woodrow wilson and things were more genteel and thoughtful in debates even when there were disagreements. there's two things, i think, that really affect whether you're in a time of activism or not. it's not that -- and i thinkngd it's one, politics. the members think that this is an issue that their constituencies care about and are acting on and ar

senator fulbright was a very interesting figure. i was talking to one of his aides about what it was that prompted him as a democrat to go against the president of his own party. why did he get so interested in vietnam and learn a lot about it? he sponsored a series of hearings that educated the nation about the war. have we had anything comparable with iraq? afghanistan? i think not. he devoted a tremendous effort to it. he said it was simple. i screwed up his plane reservations. he said he was going to australia and headed -- had to spend 28 hours on the airplane. he said on the way out the door to get him a big book to read. he was given a book on vietnam. he read it. pat holt said that fulbright walked off the airplane and said we cannot win this war. he learned something about the country. we cannot win this war. he started his hearings. anytime i ask a member of congress who is interested in something besides the number one priority back in the district, it is something like that. congressman wolf, i was talking to him the oth

fulbright was introduced earlier. we know that she's in her own right every bit as much of a force for international understanding and, indeed, the peaceful resolution of disputes as was her wonderful husband before her. i'll not go into the details of her bio because it's been presented once, but once again, the national council is graced to have harriet fulbright on our stage. [applause] >> thank you. i'm here, standing here to actually introduce ambassadorally aujali who is a first rate diplomat, and we are very happy to have him with us. born and raised in libya, he started his career in 1968 in london and went on to malaysia, argentina and brazil. he has also held a variety of positions in his country's ministry of foreign affairs. and then on september 9, 2011, he presented his credentials to president barack obama. so we are happy to have him here. he is the first ambassador to the u.s. from a free libya. he practices his profession according to one of senator fulbright's more memorable statements: the making o

fulbright was introduced earlier.e know she is in her own right every bit as much of the force for international understanding and indeed the peaceful resolution of disputes as was her wonderful husband before her. i will not go into the details of her biography because it has been presented, but once again the national council is graced the had harriet fulbright on our stage. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. i am here standing here to actually introduce ambassador ali aujali, who is a first-rate diplomat, and we're very happy to have him with us. born and raised in libya, he started his career in 1968 in london and went on to malaysia, argentina, and brazil. he has also held a variety of positions in his country's ministry of foreign affairs, and then on september 9, 2011, he presented his credentials to president barack obama and we are happy that in here. he is the first ambassador to the u.s. from taking free libya. he practices his profession according to one of senator fulbright's more famous statements. the

fulbright was introduced earlier. we know she is in her own right every bit as much of a force for international understanding and the peaceful resolution of disputes as was her wonderful husband before. i will not go into the deep details -- the details of her ivory, but the national council is greased that harriet fulbright on our stage. -- is graced that harriet fulbright is on our stage. >> i am standing here to actually introduced ambassador ali aujali, was a first-rate diplomat, and we are very happy to have him with us. born and raised in libya, he started his career in 1968 in london and went on to malaysia, argentina, and brazil. he has also held a variety of positions in his country house ministry of foreign affairs, and then on september 9, 2011, he presented his credentials to president barack obama. so we are happy to have him here. he is the first ambassador to the u.s. from eight free libya. he practices his profession according to one of senator fulbright's more memorable statements. the making of peac

senator fulbright was a very interesting figure. what it was that prompted him as a democrat to go against the president of his own party. why did he get so interested in vietnam and learn a lot about it? he sponsored a series of hearings that educated the nation about the war. have we had anything comparable with iraq? i do not think so. afghanistan? i think not. he devoted a tremendous effort to it. he said it was simple. i screwed up his plane reservations. [laughter] he said he was going to australia and headed -- had to spend 28 hours on the airplane. he was miffed about it. he said on the way out the door to get him a big book to read. he was given a book on vietnam. he read it. 28 hours going out, 20 hours coming back. pat holt said that fulbright walked off the airplane and said we cannot win this war. he learned something about the country. we cannot win this war. he started his hearings. it is always something like that. anytime i ask a member of congress who is interested in something besides the number one priority back

senator fulbright, democrat of arkansas. very interesting figure. i was talking to one of his aides once about what it was that prompted him as a democrat to go against the president of his own party. why did he get so interested in vietnam? and learn a lot about it? he sponsored a series of hearings that educated the nation about that war. have we have anything comparable to iraq? i do not think so. to afghanistan? certainly not. he said it was very simple. i screwed up his plane reservations. i said, what you mean? he was going to australia and instead of a direct flight he ended up having to spend 28 hours on the plane. and he was miffed. he said, give me a big, fat book to read. so he handed him a history of vietnam like that. and he read it. he read it 28 hours a going out and coming back. he said when he met him at the plane, fulbright walked off the plane and said, we cannot win this w a r. he learned something about the country. and he started his hearings. it is always something like that. any time i asked a member of congress interested in

we have been world's largest fulbright exchange. i did a town hall meeting in an islamabad. several people, publicly and privately, thank me for the programs that made a difference in their understanding of how to engage with their government. none of this is easy. none of it is without challenge. i believe we have to stay the course. >> i have been impressed with india. pakistan is developing a most favored nation trade status with india. i have been big coal chairman twice on the end -- co. co-chairman twice. what can be done to promote a level of positive contact between demands pakistan? >> the real danger in the region is not our bilateral relationship. is the relationship between pakistan and india. the more that there can be progress, the more likely there can be even more progress. we have in pakistan a leadership that wants to see progress with india. we have the same on the indian side. there have been successful visits in the last several months. announcement have been made -- announcements have been made to streamline visas to accelerate movement across borders.

we have the world's largest fulbright exchange. i did a town hall meeting in islamabad, and several people both publicly and privately thanked us for the programs that had made a difference in their understanding of how to put together voluntary organizations, how to engage with their government. none of this is easy, and none of it, frankly, is without challenge. but i really believe we have to stay the course on this. >> also i've been very encouraged that with india that pakistan is developing a most-favored nation trade status with india. i've been the co-chairman twice of the india caucus, and i have a deep interest in and, actually, the biggest beneficiary of a level of stability in pakistan is india. and why do you think this is moving at this time, and what can be done to promote, um, a level of trade and, um, positive contact between india and pakistan? >> well, congressman, i agree with you that the real game changer in the region is not so much our bilateral relationship as the relationship between pakistan and india. um

received a landon foundation writing residency fellowship and the writers' award, and she was a fulbright for 2006 to 2007. she's a native texan, educated at harvard. and her book, "harlem is nowhere," is one of the books we're going talk about talking about today. okay, you. let's start with you. we're talking about the tart of nonfiction. so how did you come up with the idea of weigh about insects, for god's sake? [laughter] >> well -- can you hear me okay? okay. well, i wanted to write a book about insects because i didn't know anything about insects, and it seemed like a great opportunity to write. you can't hear me? okay. is that better? okay, great. um, i chose to write a book about insects because i didn't know anything about them, and it was an opportunity to learn about them. and i like choosing topics like that where the book itself is a form of exploration, you know? you're sort of in the process of learning at the same time you're writing, so i wanted to know injects in general, but the problem that's always preoccupied me which is how to think about different things, you know