Hot tickets in the Windy City
Posted: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 2:54 PM by Carrie Dann
From NBC's Carrie Dann
He hasn't been sworn in yet, but Roland Burris is already taking advantage of one of the privileges of being a United States senator.
He scored inauguration tickets.
Today, Burris presented 30 of the tickets to a class of eighth graders at Paderewski Elementary School in Chicago. But as a United States senator-to-be, he's got plenty more to dole out to his future constituents.
After it became clear that he would be seated as a senator, Burris received the full allotment of inaugural tickets afforded United States senators, according to a spokesman for the senator-designate. Each senator receives about 400 of the coveted invitations for distribution to constituents and elected officials in their home state; House members receive about 200.
Burris noted during a Monday press conference that, as of mere weeks ago, it was unclear if he would even be able to attend the inaugural ceremony himself. "I was waiting on my tickets from Obama," he joked.