I am excited to share that the funding package the House approved this week included my request for $15.5 million for the Surfside-Sunset & Newport Beach Replenishment project. This funding will be signed by President Biden and become law this weekend!

In the 1940’s the Army Corps of Engineers widened Anaheim Bay & constructed breakwaters & jetties to service the new military bases that opened to boost military efforts for the U.S. Pacific Fleet. They also created flood control projects along three local rivers, and breakwaters to create and protect the Los Angeles/Long Beach harbor.

The new construction interrupted the natural tidal process which replenishes sand on the beaches creating narrowed beaches up and down the coastline that were now susceptible to extreme erosion. In 1964, the government recognized the problem it had created and initiated the “San Gabriel to Newport Bay Beach Renourishment Project” to make necessary repairs and restore the sand. Today, we call this project the Surfside-Sunset & Newport Beach Replenishment Project.

The project took place in stages and was 67% funded by the federal government and 33% funded by local communities. The local share of the funding was always covered when it was time for a new stage of the project. In 1995, after planning the 10^th stage of the project, the government abandoned its responsibility to our community, and in 2000, the Army Corps stated that it was no longer budgeting for any future stages in Orange County. This left local communities on the hook to pay the high costs of the project.

Not only does the problem destroy our landmark beaches, but it also creates a very real threat of flooding that destroys livelihoods and causes severe damage. In 2020, the so-called “King Tide” caused extensive flooding in Newport Beach.

When I toured the damage, local officials told me that it’s only a matter of time before the flooding becomes so severe that it poses a threat to human safety. That’s why the project to restore the sand and buffer the tides is supported by local officials across Orange County.

I promised I would get this project done for our community, and I’m proud to deliver for Orange County.

The appropriations bill also includes my proposal to extend first dollar coverage for telehealth services for those who have a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) in combination with a Health Savings Account (HSA).

This is great news, but there is still more work to do to make this exemption permanent. My bill, the Telehealth Expansion Act, would make first dollar coverage of telehealth permanent and ensure that 32 million Americans have access to virtual care.

Q: I am a U.S. citizen and need a passport to depart Ukraine. What should I do? The Department of State is not able to offer in-person emergency consular services in Ukraine at this time. U.S. citizens in Ukraine should fill out the online assistance form at: https://cacms.state.gov/s/crisis-intake and the Department of State will respond.

The Department of State is not able to offer in-person emergency consular services in Ukraine at this time. U.S. embassies and consulates in neighboring countries can accept visa applications from Ukrainians. Interested applicants can find a list of embassy websites HERE, or visit a specific embassy website by clicking the buttons below and follow the instructions provided to apply for a visa.

Please join me for a Taxpayer Assistance Seminar at the Huntington Beach Central Library this Saturday, March 12th from 10am - 12PM. 

On Tuesday, I testified at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing, “Combating the Rise in Hate Crimes,” where I joined Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) to discuss the rise in crime against the American Asian Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.

Hate crimes against the AAPI community have risen 339% in the last year. As a proud American, and someone who loves this country dearly, I take this rise in hate crimes very seriously, and I was pleased to join the Committee as a part of our joint efforts to tackle this issue.

To protect American workers from federal snooping on their private financial information, I led 12 of my House Republican colleagues to introduce the Stop the Nosy Obsession with Online Payments Act of 2022 (SNOOP) Act.

The SNOOP Act would strike a provision of the American Rescue Plan Act, passed into law in March of 2021, that requires gig workers and other small businesses to provide their private, personal information to the IRS. The law requires third-party payment platforms like Paypal, Venmo, Zelle, and others, to report a business’ gross transaction volumes in excess of $600 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The SNOOP Act will repeal this new reporting modification and return reporting requirements to their pre-2021 status so that payment providers are only required to report information when a payee conducts more than 200 commercial transactions per year in excess of $20,000.

Government is too big and has no business involving itself in every corner of Americans’ lives. I am proud to introduce this legislation to ensure that Americans can continue to live their lives without a distant bureaucrat in Washington, D.C. looking over their shoulder every time they participate in the mobile or digital economy.

"U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel, who represents the district, attended the rally and expressed support for the Ukrainians. Steel said she feels for the Ukrainians, as her own parents fled their home country.

'Both my parents fled from North Korea from communism,' she said. 'They fled from their own country from communism. Our community here is very patriotic, they love America.'" Read More. 

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