The practice of inviting guests to sit in the House Gallery is a tradition dating back to 1982 when president Ronald Reagan recognized Lenny Skutnick -- a good Samaritan who pulled a survivor out of the frozen Potomac River in Washington after an Air Florida plane crashed into the 14th Street Bridge.
Friday's lifting of sanctions did not include reinstating direct air service between the United States and Libya, nor is the release of frozen Libyan government assets authorized.
The next stop was the frozen north of Sapporo, more like a mid-west American town than Japan, with cool temperatures and an air-conditioned stadium with a spectacular Teflon-coated roof.