Preparing for the Presidential Inauguration

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I support passage of S. Con. Res. 2, which would re-establish the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies to continue preparations for the presidential inauguration at the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2005 and authorizes the use of the Capitol Rotunda for the proceedings. This non-partisan joint committee was originally created last year by concurrent resolution S. Con. Res. 94, to begin its work, but since resolutions do not carry over from one Congress to the next, it expired automatically on January 3, 2005, along with the 108th Congress. That is why this routine action is necessary today. Congress passes this concurrent resolution every four years. The Speaker, Majority Leader and Minority Leader were originally appointed to represent the House on the joint committee and will be re-appointed to continue in those roles. As for the use of the Rotunda authorized by Section 2 of S. Con. Res 2, we traditionally pass this measure at the beginning of any Congress following a presidential election in order to accommodate security planning and rehearsal for the inaugural, since the Rotunda is routinely used for ceremonial purposes during the inauguration and could host the event itself, depending on the weather at that time. A similar concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 93) was also passed last year during the 108th Congress to allow early planning for the inaugural to begin, but, like any resolution, it expired on January 3. That is why this action renewing the authority is necessary today. Therefore, I would like to urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution so that we can move forward with Inaugural ceremonies.