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Tickets for the Presidential Inauguration

The historic election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States has generated equally historic interest in the Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C. on January 20th. Officials estimate that approximately 4 million people will visit our nation's capitol that day to witness President-elect Obama's Inauguration.

Inauguration tickets 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.

While I cannot accommodate all requests, you can still attend President-Elect Obama's speech without a ticket. The entire length of the National Mall will be opened to the public without a ticket. For more information, http://www.pic2009.org/content/home/

For those of you who receive a spot in the ticketed section of the Mall, you must arrive as many as three hours before the speech to clear security. No food, drink, or strollers will be allowed in the venue.

I have established the following process for the distribution of tickets:

• No more than two tickets will be distributed to any individual.

• Tickets will not be distributed to groups, organizations, corporations or other entities.

• Media reports indicate that while private homes and apartments are still available for rent, most hotels in the DC area 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. If you receive a ticket from my office, I will ask you to provide to my office proof of a place to stay while you are in Washington.

• Some tickets will be distributed to my family, friends, and staff. The rest will be distributed through a lottery on Monday, December 15th. Consideration will be given only to requests for tickets that we receive by Friday, December 12th. Those who have been selected to receive tickets will be asked to provide my office, prior to December 19th, with the names of those who will be using the tickets, and the hotel or residence where arrangements have been made for accommodations.

• Tickets will be delivered by the Inauguration Committee to congressional offices just prior to the event. People selected to receive tickets must arrange to pick up their tickets between 9am and 5pm on Friday, January 16 and 10am and noon on Monday January 19th in my office, 412 Cannon House Office Building. There will be increased security around Capitol Hill which will lengthen the process of traveling in and out of federal buildings, so please allow for extra time to get around the city.

• 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.