{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://nolan.house.gov//media-center/in-the-news/minnpost-minnesota-grown-spruce-introduced-as-capitol-christmas-tree", "MinnPost: Minnesota-grown spruce introduced as Capitol Christmas Tree", "2014-12-03", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "MN", "Rick Nolan", "N000127", "nolan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2014\u00a0Sure, snow would have been more festive. But a very proud group of Minnesota lawmakers didn\u2019t let a light drizzle spoil the holiday spirit when they helped light the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree on Tuesday night.\nThe tree is an 88-foot white spruce harvested in Minnesota\u2019s Chippewa National Forest, making it the state\u2019s first Capitol Christmas tree since 1992. It was cut down in October and made a few ceremonial stops in Minnesota along its 2,000-mile journey before arriving in Washington last month.\nHouse Speaker John Boehner introduced the tree alongside Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken and Rep. Rick Nolan and a few other members of the delegation. The tree is decorated with 10,000 ornaments made by Minnesota students (a nod to the \u201cLand of 10,000 Lakes\u201d) \u00a0and Klobuchar made a Garrison Keillor joke (Minnesota: \u201cwhere all the trees are above average\u201d), so the tree got a proper Minnesota welcome to the West Front of the Capitol (drizzle \u2014 and tomorrow\u2019s 60 degree high temperature \u2014 notwithstanding).\nThe spruce is the second-tallest ever Capitol Christmas tree, which is fitting, Franken joked, for a state that produced two runner-up presidential candidates. Nolan hailed it as a non-partisan symbol at the end of another tough session of Congress.\u201cBy sharing this not-so-small part of Minnesota, we\u2019re letting everyone know about the natural beauty and cultural richness of our state,\u201d Klobuchar said. (Klobuchar is the senior ceremonial tree lighter in the Minnesota delegation, having flipped the switch for a Norwegian tree outside D.C.\u2019s Union Station on Monday night).\n\u201cWhat\u2019s really great about it is it\u2019s right smack dab here at the Capitol, but there\u2019s nothing remotely partisan about it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt reminds us we are all one nation, one people.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://nolan.house.gov//media-center/in-the-news/minnpost-minnesota-grown-spruce-introduced-as-capitol-christmas-tree"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9013460949063301, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}