Mr. CARLSON. Mr. Chairman, the question of association is so very broad that I feel that you should make that question more specific. (The witness confers with his counsel.) Mr. MOULDER. By disassociating yourself it is not meant by that if you happened to be around someone who might have been a member of the Communist Party. I mean did you yourself, in your belief, your philosophy, your way of thinking and your way of activities, disassociate yourself from the Communist Party approximately 5 years ago? Is that so? (The witness confers with his counsel.) Mr. CARLSON. Mr. Chairman, I never have--I did not participate knowingly with the Communist Party during that period. Mr. MOULDER. Are you now referring to the past 5 years? Mr. CARLSON. That is correct. Mr. MOULDER. May I ask you this question: Is your attitude and opinion concerning Communist Party activities now different than 5 years ago? (The witness confers with his counsel.) Mr. CARLSON. Mr. Chairman, I can’t specifically state what my opinions are. I just am in utter confusion. Mr. MOULDER. It is not the purpose of this committee, it is not our intention, Mr. Velde and I or Mr. Wheeler, to confuse anyone or to commit any injustice toward you. I am impressed by your appearance and your endeavor to try to come forward and make a clean statement or explanation. And I think it would be to your benefit for you to do it for your own interest. I am sure it would be. You infer that maybe at one time you may have had some connection with Communist Party activities. You probably have some reasonable explanation for which you maybe couldn’t or wouldn’t necessarily be criticized or condemned. Mr. CARLSON. It is very hard for me to understand what you are saying. Some of the words I do not catch. Would you speak a little louder, please? Mr. MOULDER. May I ask you this question: Are you now a member of the Communist Party? (The witness confers with his counsel.) Mr. CARLSON. No. Mr. MOULDER. Do you now believe in the Communist Party philosophy or its objectives? (The witness confers with his counsel.) Mr. CARLSON. Well, Mr. Chairman, in the light of all the testimony that I have read in the papers and heard, I really don’t know what it is about, I don’t really know what they do stand for. I am confused in my own mind. Mr. VELDE. It is not the purpose or intention of this committee, and I can very well speak for all of the members of the committee, to get you into a position where you are in contempt of Congress. I concur with Mr. Moulder in his statement a few moments ago. I think that you do have a problem. I think that you are confused about the situation. Nevertheless, you do have, in my opinion, some information which would be valuable to this committee. At the same time you could clear your own conscience, so to speak, if you would give us the benefit of the information you have regarding your Communist Party connections.