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A combination photo shows souvenir buttons displayed for the upcoming U.S. Presidential Inauguration are seen in a store in Washington January 9, 2009. U.S. President-elect Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on January 20. Pictures taken January 9, 2009.
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The US Senate has passed a bill outlawing the sale of tickets to President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony, which are being handed out for free, threatening offenders with a $100,000 fine and a year in jail.
More than a million people are expected to converge on Washington on January 20 to watch Obama take the oath of office on the steps of the US Capitol and address the nation.
The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies is distributing 240,000 free tickets for the ceremony, which is expected to attract record crowds. But the tickets are being sold for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars by enterprising citizens.
"The presidential inauguration is one of the most important rituals of our democracy. The chance to witness it should not be bought and sold like tickets to a sporting event," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who sponsored the legislation, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The legislation, passed by the Senate on Tuesday night, still has to be approved by the House of Representatives. So, with the inauguration less than a week away, it may have little practical effect.
"My hope is that the House takes up and quickly passes this legislation so that we can stop scam artists and profiteers from tarnishing this important event," Feinstein said.
Craigslist, the popular Internet classifieds listing service, has numerous ads for the tickets, while online ticket broker greatseats.com is offering them for up to $3,000 each.
Greatseats.com owner Danny Matta criticized the bill, saying it ran contrary to the spirit of capitalism.
"There are people who want to sell the tickets and there are people who want to buy them. This law does nothing but hurt people," said Matta, who has set up a kiosk in Washington's Union Station to sell tickets to the swearing-in ceremony, the parade and inaugural balls.
He said if the bill became law he would stop selling tickets to the swearing-in ceremony.
In November, online auction site eBay announced it would not allow the sale of ceremony tickets.
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(Agencies)
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美國參議院日前通過一項議案，宣布禁止倒賣奧巴馬就職儀式的門票，違者將被處以10萬美元的罰款和一年的監禁。奧巴馬就職典禮的門票將免費向公眾發放。
預計當天將有100多萬人前往華盛頓參加在國會山舉行的總統就職典禮，屆時奧巴馬將在此正式宣誓就職并發表全國講話。
“就職典禮聯合委員會”正向公眾發放24萬張免費觀禮票，預計當天參加就職典禮的人數將創歷史紀錄。但現在門票已被一些膽大的市民炒到了幾百甚至幾千美元一張。
提出該議案的加州民主黨參議員黛安?費因斯坦于本周三在一份聲明中稱：“總統就職典禮是美國最重要的一項民主儀式，見證這一歷史時刻的機會不應該像體育比賽的門票一樣被買賣。”
該提案已于本周二晚在參院通過，但還需提交眾院批準。現在距總統就職典禮僅剩不到一周的時間，因此實際作用可能不大。
費因斯坦說：“我希望眾議院能盡快通過該議案，這樣我們就可以阻止騙子和奸商去褻瀆這場盛事。”
美國最受歡迎的分類信息網站Craigslist上已經發布了很多條售票信息，在線票務代理網站greatseats.com業也開出了每張門票3000美元的高價。
Greatseats.com的老板丹尼?馬特指責該提案有悖于資本主義的精神。
馬特說：“有人想賣，有人想買，這是你情我愿的事。這項提案除了傷害大家，沒別的作用。”馬特已在華盛頓聯合車站設了一個售票點，向公眾出售就職典禮、露天游行和就職舞會的門票。
但他表示，如果提案通過，他將停止出售就職典禮的門票。
去年11月，在線拍賣網站eBay宣布禁止在該網出售就職典禮門票。
（實習生許雅寧 英語點津姍姍編輯）
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