|
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is drafting legislation that would make it illegal to sell tickets to President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony. Tickets for the event are free and will be distributed through the offices of lawmakers, who will then provide them to constituents who request them. The tickets won’t be given out until days before the ceremony, but they are already being advertised on websites like eBay and Craigslist for as much as $40,000. The legislation would charge those caught selling the tickets with a misdemeanor and a “very hefty penalty.”“I have...asked my Judiciary committee staff to prepare legislation to make it a crime to scalp inaugural tickets," said Feinstein. "This inauguration will be the major civic event of our time, and these tickets are supposed to be free for the people. Nobody should have to pay for their tickets” The Senate meets next week for a lame-duck session, at which time the legislation could be introduced. Feinstein is advising her colleagues to follow a policy that she has put in place to verify the identification of those requesting tickets. “To guard against scalpers, we are encouraging Congressional offices to establish a protocol for ticket distribution that requires people to show a photo ID in order to pick up their tickets,” she said in a statement e-mailed to The Hill. Feinstein is also personally reaching out to websites in an attempt to curb the selling of tickets. “In addition, I am writing a letter to sites like eBay and Craigslist that requests their help in making sure that scalpers do not use their sites to sell inaugural tickets,” she said.
|
