News Release

WASHINGTON - No more tickets are available from Rep. Spratt's office for the Obama Inaugural, but you don't need a ticket to attend the Swearing-in ceremony and parade.

No more tickets are available from our office. We received a limited number of tickets to the Swearing-In, and many more requests than tickets. Therefore, we are no longer accepting ticket requests.

You do not need a ticket for the Swearing-In and Parade.  During previous inaugurations, people have been allowed to gather on the National Mall, just beyond the ticketed area, to watch the Swearing-In Ceremony. Following the Swearing-In Ceremony, there will be a Presidential Parade, which moves from the Capitol down Pennsylvania Avenue past the White House.

For those receiving tickets: The actual tickets will not arrive at our Washington office until early January. You must come to our Washington office to pick them up. Our office will be open on January 19 (Martin Luther King holiday) for ticket pick-up. We will also be open on January 20, but because 1.5 million people are expected at the Swearing-In, we recommend that you pick up your ticket on January 19.

Swearing-In Ceremony. The Swearing-In Ceremony will be held outdoors on the west front steps of the Capitol, and will begin at 11:30 a.m. on January 20. The vast majority of tickets are for standing room. All attending are expected to be in their places well ahead of 11:30 a.m. Once underway, the ceremony will last about an hour.

SC ball. On the evening of January 19, the night before the inaugural, the South Carolina State Society will hold a ball at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on Independence Avenue. The ball begins at 8:00 p.m. Tickets for the ball are available at the society’s website: www.scstatesociety.com.

Other events. Other events will be posted on the Inaugural Committee’s website: www.inaugural.senate.gov/2009. The Inaugural Committee has just begun to function, and at this point its website is not very informative, but it should begin to list inaugural events shortly.

Questions. If you have further questions, it is best to contact us by email, or if you do not have email, by telephone. You can email my office at https://forms.house.gov/spratt/zipauth.shtml or reach the office by telephone at 202-225-5501. Incidentally, regular mail gets irregular treatment because of the anthrax scare, and our fax gets tons of spam. It’s best to contact us by e-mail or telephone. 

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