As lawmakers return from a week-long vacation, here’s a preview of the week ahead in Washington.

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• Now that Communist dictator Fidel Castro has departed as leader of Cuba after 49 years of uninterrupted tyrannical rule, conservatives want to see policies out of the U.S. government that promote freedom for the Cuban people and don’t reward a second Communist Castro regime ^[1]. The Heritage Foundation will have a forum next Monday, “Who is Raul Castro? The Future of Cuba’s Revolution After Fidel ^[2],” with a spirited discussion of the need for democracy and freedom as part of Cuba’s future.

• The Bush Administration is considering a declaration by the Environmental Protection Agency that carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles as a danger to public health ^[3]. This would impose a trillion-dollar annual cost of compliance on the U.S. economy. Heritage’s Ben Lieberman has written that the EPA should not make a declaration that would harm the U.S. economy and intrude into citizens’ daily activities.

• Roll Call ^[4] reports that the Senate Appropriations Committee is collecting earmark requests from lawmakers. Earmarks are special interest projects requested by members for their district. Conservatives would ask members to look no further than an average approval rating of 24% and a staggering 63% disapproval rating ^[5] to understand that members of Congress need to stop requesting wasteful earmarks.