Speaker Pelosi Remarks at U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Members of the Colorado Congressional delegation, Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton and U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen to light the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree on the West Front Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. Thank you very much, Senator [Michael Bennett]. It is an honor to be here with you and the Members of the Colorado Delegation. I want to acknowledge your presence as well as the presence of Senator Gardner as well as Congresswoman DeGette, whom we have heard from, Representative Ed Perlmutter, Representative Joe Neguse and Representative Jason Crow. And to all of the Members of the Colorado Congressional Delegation, thank you for this beautiful contribution to this celebration – a celebration of growth, of hope and of peace.

As you know, many years ago, as was mentioned by the distinguished Architect of the Capitol, 1964, the Speaker of the House McCormack decided that we should have a tree, a tree of peace, a tree of hope, and he called it the Capitol Christmas Tree. And for over five decades, Americans have come together – and especially in difficult times – to find joy and seek solace in what was called the ‘People's Tree.'

Now, tonight, we gather once more before this symbol of peace and hope, to give thanks for the blessings bestowed upon our great nation.

As we do so, we say a prayer for all who cannot celebrate with the comfort of their friends and families around them, but for those – and for all who have lost lives and livelihoods this year.

I thank the Colorado delegation and the people of Colorado for blessing our Capitol's Christmas celebration with this magnificent Engelmann spruce, from the G-MUG Forest.

On behalf of the House, I send best wishes to Governor Polis and First Gentleman Marlon Reis for a speedy recovery.

And thank you to Brett Blanton, Architect of the Capitol, and Vicki Christiansen, U.S. Forest Service Chief, for your work to bring this tree to the Capitol for this special ceremony. You see the size of the tree. It's a logistical miracle almost that it gets here so intact.

So, here we are. I'm going to do the countdown. Now, ordinarily, I would be accompanied by a child from Colorado who helped select and decorate the tree, but, of course, the pandemic prevents that special aspect of this from happening.

Alessandro Wilson is a fourth grader from Lafayette, Colorado that would have been the child to be here, so I feel as if we are all representing Alessandro Wilson here tonight as he would be with me to do this countdown. It's a very, very, very exciting moment.

See how beautiful the tree is, how magnificently it is decorated, as Congresswoman DeGette referenced. And now we're going to see it in a brighter light.

Are you ready for the countdown, everyone? Okay. Five, four, three, two, one.

[Applause]

Isn't it beautiful? Merry Christmas, everyone. Happy Holidays. Thank you, Colorado.