More is not always better, but in some cases More is what you gotta have, even when it's coming from the government. Although it is fashionable in some circles to demand Less from the government, we have come up with some notable exceptions.
First among them is a bill authored by Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) to address "inefficiencies" in the processing of foreign visitor visas, particularly at U.S. consular offices in China, Brazil and India.
The U.S. Travel Association was quick to endorse the legislation, as was the Air Transport Association. We like the idea, too. We even like the title: the "Welcoming Business Travelers and Tourists to America Act of 2011."
The bill, H.R. 3039, would direct the State Department to set a "standard" of processing visas within 12 calendar days at U.S. missions in China, Brazil and India and to use nonimmigrant visa fees to hire additional personnel to process visas.
It would also authorize a two-year pilot program of using videoconferencing instead of in-person visits for the required applicant interview. The department would have the discretion to impose an additional fee for the video alternative (on this point, we'd vote for Less).
The department would also be directed to draft a plan for meeting the forecasted demand for visas in those three countries through 2020, adhering to a 12-day processing standard.
To which we say, More! This bill doesn't do enough.
Two years is too long to be fiddling with a video "pilot program," and 2020 is eight years away. We want those visitors now.
We believe that nobody in any country should ever have to wait four months to get a visa, particularly a visa to visit the U.S. But it happens every day in Brazil. That's a disgrace.
This legislation is an important acknowledgement of the problem, and it outlines a responsible long-term approach, but what is also needed is a radical interim strategy for quickly reforming this process while we're waiting for the pilot programs and the forecasts.
Congress and the State Department have known for years that the U.S. has inadequate resources in these countries and elsewhere. They need to come up with More.
There's more:
• We often criticize the Transportation Security Administration for doing too much of the wrong things, so it's only fair for us to encourage it to do more of the right things.
In Pittsburgh, for example, the TSA recently opened an express lane for airport security, exclusively for passengers with one -- and only one -- carry-on item. We can't say why it took 10 years to think this up or why it happened first in Pittsburgh, but we can say this: More!
• Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has made distracted driving one of his signature issues, and during his watch the Transportation Department's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration outlawed texting by commercial truck and bus drivers in interstate commerce. Still pending is a proposal to ban the use of handheld phones.
Recently the National Transportation Safety Board said, in a word, More!, recommending that the DOT ban the use of all cellphones by commercial drivers, including hands-free phones, except in emergencies.
To which we would say, Yes.