Dear neighbor, 

Just in time for the busy holiday season, Covered California’s open enrollment season began this week! From now until January 31, you can enroll in quality, affordable health care coverage through Covered California. If you and your family are looking for low-cost name-brand health insurance, click here to learn more about what Covered California has to offer. 

I believe all Americans deserve affordable health care, and Democrats are hard at work to make that belief a reality. President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, enabling millions of Americans to access affordable health insurance through federal funding for state Medicaid programs. Since President Biden took office, Democrats have built on the success of the ACA to lower health care costs for American families through the historic American Rescue Plan (ARP) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).  

In 2023, an estimated 50,000 people in our district in Los Angeles County enrolled in ACA health insurance plans. Thanks to subsidies provided by the IRA, the average enrollee in our community will save $1,480 in health insurance premiums this year! 

ICYMI: This summer, my office received many, many requests for passport renewal support. I heard from many of our neighbors that expired passports resulted in missed flights. In July, I led 76 of my colleagues in Congress in sending a letter to the CEOs of major U.S. airlines urging them to better inform passengers of eligibility and passport regulations for international travel. 

This week, American Airlines added a reminder to check for passport eligibility when purchasing international tickets on their website! I’m glad to see this collaboration between airlines and the federal government, which will make sure passengers are prepared to travel abroad and reduce the number of missed international flights! 

Here’s what else I worked on in Washington this week:

• Commended the Biden-Harris Administration on their recent Executive Order on artificial intelligence, which contains many provisions that my colleagues in Congress and I have fought for. 
• Reintroduced a bill with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to prevent sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work. 
• Called on House Republicans to introduce a clean government funding extension and avoid a government shutdown. We’re facing another shutdown because Republicans took out their own Speaker and shut down Congress for three weeks. American families shouldn’t suffer due to Republicans’ chaos and dysfunction. 
• Reintroduced bipartisan legislation to require warrants for law enforcement to deploy cell site simulators, which are incredibly powerful tools that mimic cell towers and, in an often overly broad way, trick phones into giving up sensitive data. This bill would defend Americans’ right to privacy and civil liberties. 

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: House Democrats are united against extreme MAGA Republicans’ division and dysfunction. I joined House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) to call for continued government funding at levels that President Biden, Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans, and House Democrats all agree on. The outliers driving us toward a government shutdown? Extremist House Republicans. 

LET’S JET! If you’re planning to travel abroad, don’t forget to check your passport’s expiration date! Passports that will expire within a year should be renewed now. Please reach out to my Los Angeles office if you or your family need assistance with passport renewal. The State Department HIGHLY RECOMMENDS that you check your passport and ensure that it is current or renew it before you plan an international trip.  

Due to a higher volume of requests across the country, the State Department’s standard passport processing times are now eight to 11 weeks, while expedited processing time is five to seven weeks. If you need to apply for a new passport in person, please click here. If you have a passport that will expire within six months and need to renew it via mail, or if you need to correct or change your current passport, please click here. If you’ve already applied for a new or renewed passport and would like to check the status of your request, please click here.   

For more information on my work in Congress, please visit my website at lieu.house.gov and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. If you have any questions or concerns, please call my D.C. office at (202) 225-3976 or my Los Angeles district office at (323) 651-1040.    

I look forward to updating you again soon.  

Sincerely,   

Ted W. Lieu

Member of Congress