Please get your passport renewed! When I was leaving for Sydney from LAX they were removing passengers from the plane for insufficient travel documentation!
My trip was in Dec 2001, and I don't know if things have changed - but security lines in the Bradley Terminal were endless - you might be standing there for several hours (I do hope things have improved since then) - so do be sure to grab a bite and and stretch a bit before queuing up...as I recall, the eats in the secure area were nothing to write home about!