Senator Pleads With Websites: Stop Selling Obama Inauguration Tickets

WASHINGTON — The senator overseeing Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony said Monday she's writing to Internet sites like eBay asking them not to sell scalped inauguration tickets. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., also said she's crafting a bill that would make a federal crime of selling tickets to the historic event Jan. 20.
Feinstein, who chairs the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, said she foresees overwhelming demand for the 240,000 available tickets and has heard reports they may be sold for as much as $40,000 online.
The tickets are supposed to be free to the public and distributed through congressional offices.
Lawmakers' offices won't get the tickets until shortly before the inauguration, to try to prevent scalping. In-person pickup will be required.
"These tickets are given for free to people. This is a major civic event of the time, and no one pays for their tickets, and we believe no one should be required to pay for their tickets," Feinstein said in an interview.
Besides eBay, Feinstein aides said they are looking at writing to Craig's List and possibly other sites. An eBay spokeswoman, Nichola Sharpe, said the company was in discussions with the Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies but couldn't comment until an outcome was reached.
Feinstein said she was readying legislation for Congress' lame duck session, which begins next week, to make scalping the tickets a misdemeanor punishable by a yet-to-be-determined fine.
She said her own Senate office received 8,000 ticket requests the first day after the election.

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