The 1999 United States Capitol Christmas Tree, a 60-foot white spruce from Wisconsin's Nicolet National Forest, was formally lit by Speaker J. Dennis Hastert in a ceremony on Thursday, December 9, at 5 p.m. The program featured greetings from Architect of the Capitol Alan M. Hantman, AIA; the Wisconsin congressional delegation; and other dignitaries. The evening also included musical performances by the Congressional Chorus, the Wisconsin Youth Leadership Academy YMCA Boys' Choir, and the United States Army band.

The tree was selected in the summer of 1999 from twenty candidate trees by Architect of the Capitol Senior Landscape Architect Matthew Evans with the assistance of the U.S. Forest Service and local volunteers. It traveled from Wisconsin to Washington, D.C., by train and arrived at the Capitol's west lawn in the early afternoon of Monday, November 29. Capitol Grounds staff set up the tree and decorated it with 4,000 ornaments hand-made by people from all parts of Wisconsin, and over 10,000 blue, clear, and amber electric lights.

The tree was lit each evening through January 2, 2000, from 5:00 p.m. until midnight.