The 2000 United States Capitol Christmas Tree was lit on Tuesday, December 12, in a 5:00 p.m. ceremony on the west lawn of the Capitol. The program featured greetings from Architect of the Capitol Alan M. Hantman, AIA, who served as master of ceremonies; the Colorado congressional delegation; and other dignitaries. The evening also included musical performances by the Congressional Chorus, the Summit Choral Society, and a section of the U.S. Air Force band. Speaker J. Dennis Hastert lit the tree at 5:30 p.m.

The tree began its journey from Colorado's Pike National Forest to Washington, D.C., in mid-November. The 65-foot Colorado Blue spruce was selected in the summer of 2000 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 was driven across the country on a 64-foot flatbed truck by Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. The truck was decorated to look like a Conestoga wagon and made several stops along the way.

Around 10:00 a.m. on Monday, December 4, the tree arrived at the Capitol Grounds; Capitol Grounds staff set up the tree and decorated it with 6,400 ornaments, which were hand-made by school children from all of Colorado's 64 counties, and over 10,000 blue, white, and amber electric lights.

The tree was lit each evening through January 2, 2001, from 5:00 p.m. until midnight.