A combination photo shows souvenir buttons displayed for the upcoming U.S. Presidential Inauguration¹ 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.

The US Senate has passed a bill outlawing² the sale of tickets to President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony, which are being handed out for free, threatening offenders³ with a $100,000 fine and a year in jail.

More than a million people are expected to converge⁴ 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 Joint⁵ Congressional Committee on Inaugural⁶ 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 Democrat⁷ 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 tarnishing⁸ this important event," Feinstein said.

Craigslist, the popular Internet classifieds listing service, has numerous ads for the tickets, while online ticket broker⁹ 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 capitalism¹⁰.

"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 auction¹¹ site eBay announced it would not allow the sale of ceremony tickets.

美国参议院日前通过一项议案，宣布禁止倒卖奥巴马就职仪式的门票，违者将被处以10万美元的罚款和一年的监禁。奥巴马就职典礼的门票将免费向公众发放。

预计当天将有100多万人前往华盛顿参加在国会山举行的总统就职典礼，届时奥巴马将在此正式宣誓就职并发表全国讲话。

“就职典礼联合委员会”正向公众发放24万张免费观礼票，预计当天参加就职典礼的人数将创历史纪录。但现在门票已被一些胆大的市民炒到了几百甚至几千美元一张。

提出该议案的加州民主党参议员黛安•费因斯坦于本周三在一份声明中称：“总统就职典礼是美国最重要的一项民主仪式，见证这一历史时刻的机会不应该像体育比赛的门票一样被买卖。”

该提案已于本周二晚在参院通过，但还需提交众院批准。现在距总统就职典礼仅剩不到一周的时间，因此实际作用可能不大。

费因斯坦说：“我希望众议院能尽快通过该议案，这样我们就可以阻止骗子和奸商去亵渎这场盛事。”

美国最受欢迎的分类信息网站Craigslist上已经发布了很多条售票信息，在线票务代理网站greatseats.com业也开出了每张门票3000美元的高价。

Greatseats.com的老板丹尼•马特指责该提案有悖于资本主义的精神。

马特说：“有人想卖，有人想买，这是你情我愿的事。这项提案除了伤害大家，没别的作用。”马特已在华盛顿联合车站设了一个售票点，向公众出售就职典礼、露天游行和就职舞会的门票。

但他表示，如果提案通过，他将停止出售就职典礼的门票。

去年11月，在线拍卖网站eBay宣布禁止在该网出售就职典礼门票。