Assuming the government soon turns its attention back to the task of governing and budgeting, we would hope to see some attention paid to the U.S. Travel Association's recent proposals for Customs and Border Protection, and specifically to the need for more inspectors at gateway airports.
It's embarrassing and inexcusable that the U.S. government has subjected some international visitors and returning residents to two- and three-hour waits for the routine steps of passport control and customs inspections at our ports of entry.
No task can be done well unless we shoulder the costs of providing adequate resources, efficient technology and thoughtful management. In the case of some critically important services such as these, poor performance imposes even greater costs on the entire economy.
As we reported in the news pages a week ago, U.S. Travel has prepared a blueprint for reducing wait times to an acceptable level, suggesting a goal of clearing 80% of passengers within 30 minutes and getting every arriving air passengers through the process within 45 minutes.
Those are achievable goals -- assuming, of course, that we have a government that is up and running.