Obama's second inaugural to be themed 'Faith in America's Future'

President Obama's second inaugural ceremony will be focused around the theme of "Faith in America's Future," congressional organizers announced Thursday.

The inaugural program will pay tribute to the nation's "perseverance and unity," the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies said in a press release. And the ceremony will mark the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Capitol Dome in 1863. Construction on the dome was threatened during the American Civil War, but work continued despite a budget strained by the costs of the war.

“Our nation has faced countless challenges throughout its history, and each time we have come together as Americans and moved forward with renewed strength,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), chairman of the JCCIC, in a statement. “During the 57th Presidential Inauguration, Americans from across the country will gather beneath the Capitol Dome to celebrate our history, take measure of how far we have come, and look towards our future with hope and determination.”

The inauguration will be held on Monday, Jan. 21, coinciding with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. That's a day later than usual, the result of the traditional Inauguration Day — Jan. 20 — falling on a Sunday, and the second time the federal holiday has coincided with a presidential inauguration. Former President Clinton's second inauguration in 1997 also fell on the holiday.

The committee indicated that a tribute to African-Americans could play a role in the ceremony, noting that blacks began work on the Capitol Dome enslaved but finished the project as free laborers, thanks to the D.C. Emancipation Act enacted during the Civil War.

"The year 1863 was one of the most fateful in our nation’s history," the committee said in a statement. "It began with the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, and ended with a celebration of the new Capitol Dome crowned by the Statue of Freedom in December. It also was the year of the first homestead claim, the start of the first transcontinental railroad, the opening of the first land grant college, and President Lincoln’s historic and visionary Gettysburg Address."

The event's agenda is being coordinated by a special congressional committee, which includes much of the top leadership of both chambers. Appointed by the vice president and Speaker of the House, the group includes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), along with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

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