Travel Blitz Talking Points

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  • 02/15/13

Congressional Talking Points

Aviation Security

  • America’s system for aviation security is discouraging travel.  Streamlining air security encourages more travel and helps the economy.
  • Congress and TSA should support implementation of TSA’s PreCheck trusted traveler program and allow the private sector to make PreCheck available to more travelers.   

Brand USA

  • Brand USA is a non-profit public-private partnership working to increase international travel to the United States and expand our share of the global travel and tourism market.  
  • By encouraging more people to visit America every year, Brand USA helps attract billions in spending and economic stimulus and create tens of thousands of new jobs here at home.
  • The Travel Promotion Act will require reauthorization by fiscal year 2015 to ensure it can maintain its economic impact and effectiveness.  
  • As Brand USA continues to demonstrate its return on investment, Congress should consider early reauthorization to build private sector support for the program’s long-term mission – to increase our share of the rapidly expanding international visitor community.

Make Traveling to the United States More Efficient and Welcoming

  • To maintain America’s competitiveness in the global travel market, the entry process at our busiest airports must be upgraded.  
  • The U.S. can significantly reduce wait times at our ports of entry by establishing standards and target wait times for processing international travelers, improving customer service and expanding use of trusted traveler programs like Global Entry for pre-approved, low-risk travelers.
  • Customs and Border Protection (CBP) should provide passport processing of all international travelers within 30 minutes of arrival at the primary inspection area. CBP should be required to increase staffing levels at the nation’s international airports to meet this screening goal.
  • Congress and the Administration should increase the number of countries allowed to participate in Global Entry and make the program’s registration process user-friendly.

The JOLT Act

  • Increasing travel to the U.S. is the most effective form of economic stimulus – supporting communities, injecting billions into the U.S. economy and creating millions of good, new American jobs.  
  • The JOLT Act will expand visa-free travel to the U.S. by reforming the criteria for countries to join the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).  The VWP allows business/leisure travelers from partner countries to temporarily visit the U.S. without obtaining a visa.
  • For your Representative: Please cosponsor H.R. 1354- the JOLT Act.
    For your Senators: Please ensure that the provisions contained in the JOLT Act are included in comprehensive immigration reform.

The Importance of Government Meetings, Conferences, and Events

  • Government conferences, meetings and travel deliver important services to businesses and individual taxpayers, including safety inspections, disaster relief, corporate training on taxes and government regulations, services for the military and more.
  • Congress must urge the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and federal agencies to seek better methods of managing travel and conducting oversight.
  • Congress must oppose steep, across-the-board cuts to travel budgets that will impact important services provided to taxpayers and travel businesses.  Support budget cuts only where waste exists.

Investing in America: Modernizing U.S. Transportation Infrastructure

  • The U.S. air traffic control systems use decades-old technology—causing delays, cancellations, and headaches for too many American travelers.  As well, U.S. roads are crumbling and our highways are jammed.
  • Congress should provide adequate support and funding for FAA to implement the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen)—particularly at U.S. airports expecting the greatest increase in passengers. This could increase capacity by one-third and improve efficiency and cost-savings, all while benefiting the environment.
  • Congress must streamline the approval process for intermodal transportation projects and authorize new and sustainable funding sources for U.S. airports and the federal surface transportation programs. 

 

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