Thank you for contacting me about this year's historic inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden.  At this time all tickets for the Inauguration Ceremony have been claimed.

As you may be aware, in recent months my office has fielded requests for more than 4,000 individual tickets to attend the 2009 inaugural ceremonies.  The Fifth Congressional District, however, was allocated less than 200 tickets.  Given this significant demand and limited supply, my office undertook a lottery process to distribute tickets based on a number of factors, including the date of the ticket request, residency in the Fifth District and the number of tickets requested. 

Unfortunately, we have completed our distribution process, If you have not yet been notified confirming your ticket, we will be unable to fulfill your request.  Please contact my office with any questions you may have.  However, if you are still interested in attending inaugural events in Washington, DC, I would encourage you to do so. 

There will be a number of locations available for non-ticket-holding members of the public to view the inaugural ceremony and/or the inaugural parade.  I am also happy to offer information on the various tourist destinations and sites around the area.  

While Washington authorities are expecting record crowds, officials will be setting up large viewing screens and opening sections of the National Mall between 4th Street and the Washington Monument from which spectators may witness the inaugural ceremony.  Portions of the inaugural parade route will also be open to the public.

If you are able, I would certainly encourage you to take part in this important and exciting event.  For more information, please visit the Inaugural Committee's Website, a link to which can be found below.    

Thank you once again for contacting my office.  It is truly an honor to serve you.