Answer: Elmo

Over the years a wide variety of famous personalities have entered the U.S. Congressional record through official testimony. In 2002, however, they got their first testimony from a famous and non-human person: Mr. Elmo Monster.

Yes, that Elmo, the diminutive red puppet that captured the hearts of children with his endearing mannerisms and ‘third person style’ English. During 2002, he was called to testify in front of the House Education Appropriations Sub-committee in defense of funding music programs in public schools. Obviously the testimony of a puppet isn’t exactly that of an expert witness, but the move to include Elmo was designed to draw attention to underfunded music programs and, to that end, it achieved just that.