LARSON ANNOUNCES INAUGURATION TICKETS POLICY
Hartford, CT -- Today, Congressman John B. Larson announced the following policy for the distribution of tickets to the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States.
MEMORANDUM
From: John B. Larson, Member ofCongress
Date: November 26,2008
Re: Tickets forPresidential Inauguration
As youundoubtedly already know, the historic election of Barack Obama as the 44thPresident of the UnitedStates has generated an equally historicinterest in the Presidential Inauguration on January 20th. It is estimated thatapproximately 4 million individuals will visit our nation's capitol that day towitness President-elect Obama's Inauguration and swearing-in.
Inaugurationtickets to the grounds of the U. S. Capitol will be available for only a verysmall fraction of all of those who would like to attend the Inauguration, andeach Member of Congress, including myself, has been allocated only 198 ticketsfor distribution in accordance with each Member's discretion. And, of those 198tickets, only 21 are for seats and the other tickets will be for individualswho will have to stand.
Thus far,my office has received requests for over 5,000 tickets, and unfortunately wewill be able to accommodate the wishes of only a few of those from whom we havereceived requests.
I want totry to ensure that those to whom the 198 tickets are distributed by my officecomprise a representative cross-section of the First Congressional District. In order to do this, I have established thefollowing process for the distribution of tickets:
1. Nomore than two tickets will be distributed to any individual, and the ticketsmay be used only by the requesting individual and his or her spouse, civilunion partner, parent or child.
2. Ticketswill not be distributed to groups, organizations, corporations or otherentities.
3. Mediareports indicate that hotel and similar accommodations in the DC area have beenfully committed for several weeks now, and are no longer available. Thus, tohelp ensure that the tickets that we distribute are actually used, tickets willbe distributed only to those who have been able to make arrangements foraccommodations at hotels or with family or friends.
4. Ihave identified a number of categories of individuals to whom the tickets willbe distributed. These categories include my family and long-time friends;members of my Congressional office staffs; elected and appointed officials;political leaders; community leaders; teachers and other educators; communityvolunteers; and other categories that I may identify. Each individual whorequests tickets will be assigned to one of these categories, and tickets willbe allocated to each category based on the number of individuals and ticketrequests in each category and to help ensure an appropriate cross-section ofthose receiving tickets. Within each category, certain tickets will bedistributed to individuals identified through a selection process intended tohelp further ensure an appropriate cross-section of those receiving tickets,and other tickets will be distributed to individuals chosen by lot.
5. Considerationwill be given only to requests for tickets that we receive by Friday, December5th.
6. Notlater than December 15, my office will notify those who have been selected toreceive tickets, and those who are so notified will be asked to provide myoffice, prior to December 31, with the name of those who will be using thetickets, and the hotel or residence where arrangements have been made foraccommodations.
7. Ticketswill be delivered by the Inauguration Committee to congressional offices justprior to the event. In addition, therewill be increased security around Capitol Hill because of the large influx ofpeople coming to Washingtonfor the Inauguration which will lengthen the process of traveling in and out offederal buildings. Therefore, peopleselected to receive tickets must arrange to pick up their tickets between 9amand 5pm on Monday January 19th at my Congressional Office on CapitolHill.
8. Myoffice will provide information about general inauguration activities for thosewho have contacted the office and plan on being in Washington during the Inaugurationregardless of being selected for a ticket to the Inauguration ceremony.
I regret thatmany of my friends, constituents and others who contribute to the well-being ofthe First Congressional District will be disappointed because we will not beable to accommodate their requests for tickets. I hope that everyone willunderstand the need for this process and will feel that the process is a fairone and will result in a representative cross-section of our community.
Pleasecheck our website, www.house.gov/larson,for further updates, or call Gladys Mercado at (860) 278-8888, if you have anyquestions.