{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.speaker.gov/general/7-reasons-were-excited-about-capitol-christmas-tree", "7 Reasons We're Excited About The Capitol Christmas Tree", "2016-12-05", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "WI", "Paul Ryan", "R000570", "www.speaker.gov", null, null, "legacy", "This year's\u00a0Capitol Christmas Tree\u00a0is ready to be lit, and we for one are excited about it. (Heck, I started writing this post three months ago.) Rain or shine, the tree lighting ceremony gets underway tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. ET, and it will air on\u00a0speaker.gov/live.\nThe tree\n\tEvery year, the\u00a0Architect of the Capitol\u00a0and the\u00a0U.S. Forest Service\u00a0work together to select a tree from one of our national forests. This year's edition\u2014an 80-foot Engelmann spruce\u2014comes from\u00a0Payette National Forest\u00a0in McCall, Idaho.\u00a0\nThe truck  \n\tAfter the tree was cut, it began the 2,500-mile journey to the Capitol, stopping for public events in cities and towns along the way.\u00a0Gary Amoth, the trucker from Twin Falls, Idaho, who drove the tree to the Capitol before daybreak last week,\u00a0said,\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s awe-inspiring. If you\u2019ve never been here, as I\u2019ve not, it\u2019s pretty awesome.\u201d\nThe tradition  \n\tAccording to\u00a0the House historian, the modern Capitol Christmas Tree tradition dates back to 1962, when\u00a0Speaker John McCormack\u00a0had a tree placed in\u00a0National Statuary Hall, declaring it\u00a0\u201cmost appropriate that a Christmas tree be placed in the Capitol, which is the heart of legislative activity of our country.\u201d The practice of planting a tree on the West Front began a little later.\nThe trimmings  \n\tThe Architect of the Capitol and his team have decorated the tree with\u00a0ornaments handmade by Idahoans. All told, there are\u00a018,000 ornaments\u00a0to go on the big tree and 70 companion trees around Capitol Hill.\nThe toys  \n\tThe tree lighting ceremony is surrounded by events that honor\u00a0what the season is all about. Every year, we part in an annual toy collection drive organized by the Marine Corps Liaisons for the House of Representatives.\nThe good tidings  \n\tTo flip the switch, Speaker Ryan will be joined by Boise fifth-grader\u00a0Isabella Gerard, who submitted a poem as part of a\u00a0statewide contest.\u00a0Here is an excerpt from Isabella's poem:\u00a0\u201cIdaho is blessed with beautiful mountains and immense forests.\u00a0In the winter the mountains and forests are covered with snow,\u00a0making the landscape look like never ending clouds with skyscrapers covered in snow.\u201d\nThe splendor  \n\tThis year's tree will stand in front of the newly restored Capitol Dome, and it will be lit every evening through Christmas night.\u00a0\nBe sure to tune in for tomorrow's ceremony at 5:00 p.m. ET. For now, this\u00a0behind-the-scenes time lapse\u00a0from 2011 tells this whole story for you in\u00a0less than a minute.", 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://www.speaker.gov/general/7-reasons-were-excited-about-capitol-christmas-tree"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4495330397039652, "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"}