Hartford, CT -- Today, Congressman John B. Larson announced the following policy for the distribution of tickets to the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States.
MEMORANDUM
From: John B. Larson,Member of
Congress
Date:November 26,
2008
Re:Tickets for
Presidential Inauguration
As you
undoubtedly already know, the historic election of Barack Obama as the 44th
President of the United
States has generated an equally historic
interest in the Presidential Inauguration on January 20th. It is estimated that
approximately 4 million individuals will visit our nation's capitol that day to
witness President-elect Obama's Inauguration and swearing-in.
Inauguration
tickets to the grounds of the U. S. Capitol will be available for only a very
small fraction of all of those who would like to attend the Inauguration, and
each Member of Congress, including myself, has been allocated only 198 tickets
for distribution in accordance with each Member's discretion. And, of those 198
tickets, only 21 are for seats and the other tickets will be for individuals
who will have to stand.
Thus far,
my office has received requests for over 5,000 tickets, and unfortunately we
will be able to accommodate the wishes of only a few of those from whom we have
received requests.
I want to
try to ensure that those to whom the 198 tickets are distributed by my office
comprise a representative cross-section of the First Congressional District. In order to do this, I have established the
following process for the distribution of tickets:
1.No
more than two tickets will be distributed to any individual, and the tickets
may be used only by the requesting individual and his or her spouse, civil
union partner, parent or child.
2.Tickets
will not be distributed to groups, organizations, corporations or other
entities.
3.Media
reports indicate that hotel and similar accommodations in the DC area have been
fully committed for several weeks now, and are no longer available. Thus, to
help ensure that the tickets that we distribute are actually used, tickets will
be distributed only to those who have been able to make arrangements for
accommodations at hotels or with family or friends.
4.I
have identified a number of categories of individuals to whom the tickets will
be distributed. These categories include my family and long-time friends;
members of my Congressional office staffs; elected and appointed officials;
political leaders; community leaders; teachers and other educators; community
volunteers; and other categories that I may identify. Each individual who
requests tickets will be assigned to one of these categories, and tickets will
be allocated to each category based on the number of individuals and ticket
requests in each category and to help ensure an appropriate cross-section of
those receiving tickets. Within each category, certain tickets will be
distributed to individuals identified through a selection process intended to
help further ensure an appropriate cross-section of those receiving tickets,
and other tickets will be distributed to individuals chosen by lot.
5.Consideration
will be given only to requests for tickets that we receive by Friday, December
5th.
6.Not
later than December 15, my office will notify those who have been selected to
receive tickets, and those who are so notified will be asked to provide my
office, prior to December 31, with the name of those who will be using the
tickets, and the hotel or residence where arrangements have been made for
accommodations.
7.Tickets
will be delivered by the Inauguration Committee to congressional offices just
prior to the event.In addition, there
will be increased security around Capitol Hill because of the large influx of
people coming to Washington
for the Inauguration which will lengthen the process of traveling in and out of
federal buildings.Therefore, people
selected to receive tickets must arrange to pick up their tickets between 9am
and 5pm on Monday January 19th at my Congressional Office on Capitol
Hill.
8.My
office will provide information about general inauguration activities for those
who have contacted the office and plan on being in Washington during the Inauguration
regardless of being selected for a ticket to the Inauguration ceremony.
I regret that
many of my friends, constituents and others who contribute to the well-being of
the First Congressional District will be disappointed because we will not be
able to accommodate their requests for tickets. I hope that everyone will
understand the need for this process and will feel that the process is a fair
one and will result in a representative cross-section of our community.
Please
check our website, www.house.gov/larson,
for further updates, or call Gladys Mercado at (860) 278-8888, if you have any
questions.