WASHINGTON, D.C. – New Jersey’s U.S. Senators, Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg, today provided an update and reminder for New Jerseyans who are considering travelling to Washington, DC for the January 20 inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. Specifically, the senators want to communicate a few key points:

• The senators want to reiterate that a ticket is NOT NEEDED to attend the swearing-in ceremony. Tickets are only needed for a reserved section of the National Mall in front of the Capitol Building, but the remainder of the Mall will be open to the public and will be equipped with large screen monitors and speakers.

• Due to extremely high demand for tickets for the reserved section of the National Mall during the swearing-in ceremony and the fact that Senate offices will only receive a very limited allotment, the senators’ offices will be unable to take additional ticket requests after this coming Monday (cutoff time is midnight Monday night).

• As of today, the senators’ offices have received combined requests for approximately 90,000 tickets.

• New Jerseyans interested in learning more about the Inaugural can visit Senator Lauteberg's or Menendez's Website, or the official inauguration Website.  They can also call (202) 224-2228.

• The Presidential Inaugural Committee has not been set up yet and more details about the parade will be available when it is.  

    Senators Menendez and Lautenberg released the following joint statement:

    “This was an historic, unifying and uplifting election, and President-elect Obama is an extraordinary public figure. As a result, demand for tickets for the reserved section of the National Mall on Inauguration Day has been unlike anything seen before. Since Senate offices will be given only a very limited allotment of tickets to distribute – an amount that will be a small fraction of the tens of thousands of requests we are receiving – we will no longer take ticket requests after Monday. We want to remind everyone who is interested in taking part in this historic day that they can do so, regardless of whether they have a ticket to the reserved area of the Mall or not. The vast majority of the Mall will be open to everyone and will be equipped with large screen monitors and speakers during the swearing-in ceremony. We look forward to celebrating President-elect Obama’s historic inauguration with any and all New Jerseyans who travel to Washington.”

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