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Since April 2014, I have been fighting to ensure the safe return of the hundreds of young Nigerian school girls kidnapped by the extremist group, Boko Haram. In June 2014, I visited Nigeria to meet with victims of Boko Haram’s terror. At the request of the #BringBackOurGirls organizers, I began a Twitter campaign to keep international attention on their abduction and demand their safe return. I routinely speak on the House floor, and under my leadership, the U.S. House of Representatives passed two resolutions that I authored, H. Res. 617 and H. Res. 573.

(CNN)The University of Florida in Gainesville is bracing for a day of protests Thursday when white supremacist Richard Spencer arrives on campus to deliver a speech on his racist views. The event, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, will be Spencer's first planned visit to a college campus since he and others participated in the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August. University and local officials are concerned that Thursday's event could also become violent, and they have taken a number of steps to prevent that. On Monday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Alachua County,...

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Just weeks ago, members of the Jacksonville Jaguars made international news by protesting the U.S. national anthem on foreign soil. Ahead of a game in London, Jaguars kneeled — and owner Shad Khan supported their protest by standing with the team during the anthem.In the interim, an attempt to walk it back: as a mea culpa letter from Jaguars President Mark Lamping to a city of Jacksonville official made clear on Oct. 6. The team, wrote Lamping, “was remiss in not fully comprehending the effect of the national anthem demonstration on foreign soil has had on the men and women...

...Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., said she overheard President Donald Trump tell the widow of Miami Gardens native Sgt. La David T. Johnson, a U.S. soldier killed in Niger, that her husband "must've known what he signed up for."... ...."Sarcastically, he said: 'But, you know, he must've known what he signed up for,'" Wilson said. "How could you say that to a grieving widow? ... I couldn't believe, and he said it more than once. This man has no feelings for anyone. This is a young woman with child.... "Everyone knows when you go to war, you could possibly not come back...

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WEAR) — Three family members in Pensacola are facing charges in the death of a 9-year-old girl. Veronica Posey is charged with second degree murder and cruelty towards a child. Grace Smith is charged with cruelty towards a child and child neglect for not reporting the abuse. James Smith is also charged with child neglect. Families who live in the neighborhood where the incident happened said they had no clue anything was out of the ordinary in the Smith's home until deputies showed up Saturday afternoon. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith loved those kids and took care of them...

The Jacksonville Jaguars have apologized to local military leaders for demonstrating during the national anthem in London last month. Jaguars President Mark Lamping sent a letter to the director of military affairs and veterans in Jacksonville saying the team was ”remiss in not fully comprehending the effect of the national anthem demonstration on foreign soil has had on the men and women who have or continue to serve our country.”

The Jacksonville Jaguars have apologized to military leaders for demonstrating during the national anthem in London last month. Jaguars President Mark Lamping sent a letter to the director of military affairs and veterans in Jacksonville saying the team was ''remiss in not fully comprehending the effect of the national anthem demonstration on foreign soil has had on the men and women who have or continue to serve out country.'' The letter was forwarded to Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry on Monday and available via his public email.

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Man arrested after cops mistook doughnut glaze for meth gets $37,500 from Orlando TThe City of Orlando paid $37,500 to a man to settle a lawsuit after police officers arrested him for what they thought was meth but was actually tiny flakes of glaze from a Krispy Kreme doughnut. Daniel Rushing sued the city after a field test incorrectly showed he had drugs and he was arrested and taken to jail.

A former Jacksonville Jaguars fan wants everyone to know how he feels about the NFL’s recent anthem protests. Terry Smiley hired a plane to fly a banner reading "Be American. Boycott the Jags and the NFL," over Everbank Field.  The banner was in the air for nearly two hours during Sunday’s game.Smiley says he's fed up with the players, and the league.“Do you believe in your country?” he asked. “Do you believe in the Star Spangled Banner?  If you don't stand up for it now, you won't have it in the future."A recent FOX News poll found 55 percent of voters...

Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Monday declared a state of emergency ahead of a planned appearance by white nationalist Richard Spencer at University of Florida. Scott made the designation for Alachua County, where the school is located, upon request by Sheriff Sadie Darnell. Spencer, designated a white nationalist by the Southern Poverty Law Center and head of the white nationalist think tank National Policy Institute, was scheduled to speak Thursday in Gainesville. "We live in a country where everyone has the right to voice their opinion, however, we have zero tolerance for violence and public safety...

SAN JUAN -- Sen. Bill Nelson doesn’t know how many Puerto Ricans have made their way to Florida since Hurricane Maria ravaged the Caribbean island on Sept. 20. And he doesn’t know how many plan to stay on the mainland as their home slowly recovers. But if they plan to stick around the Sunshine State, the Florida Democrat wants them to go to the polls in 2018, when he’s up for reelection. “If they will register to vote, which I’m certainly going to encourage, because I can tell you among the Puerto Rican community in the greater Orlando area, they...

NEW PORT RICHEY — The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is taking steps to turn some of its jail deputies into federal immigration agents. Sheriff Chris Nocco has signed an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to join a controversial program that give deputies the power to check the immigration status of people booked into the county jail and to serve warrants on suspected undocumented inmates — a process that could lead to deportation. The decision puts the Sheriff's Office in the middle of a national debate over whether local law enforcement should play a role in enforcing federal immigration...

In an email to the student body last week, University of Florida President Kent Fuchs expressed befuddlement at his recent discovery that the public university must allow free speech. “If you are like me, I expect you are surprised and even shocked to learn that UF is required by law to allow Mr. Spencer to speak his racist views on our campus,” Fuchs wrote in a statement alerting students that Richard Spencer, a prominent white nationalist, will be visiting campus on October 19.

Gov. Rick Scott on Monday declared a state of emergency in Alachua County three days ahead of a scheduled speech at the University of Florida campus in Gainesville by the white nationalist Richard Spencer. “I find that the threat of a potential emergency is imminent,” Scott said in a seven-page executive order. Scott placed Wes Maul, the recently-promoted 29-year-old interim state emergency management director, as the state coordinating officer “for the duration of this emergency,” including giving Maul the authority to deploy law enforcement officers and to suspend state laws if necessary. Maul had been chief of staff at DEM...

WASHINGTON Florida has a U.S. senator who once flew aboard the Space Shuttle. A congressional candidate from Miami can go one better: Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera says she’s been aboard a spaceship too. But this one was crewed by aliens. As in extraterrestrials. Three blond, big-bodied beings — two females, one male — visited her when she was 7 years old and have communicated telepathically with her several times in her life, she says. (Sen. Bill Nelson served as payload officer aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1986. All seven people aboard were from Earth. As far as is known.)

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WASHINGTON - Florida has a U.S. senator who once flew aboard the Space Shuttle. A congressional candidate from Miami can go one better: Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera says she’s been aboard a spaceship too. But this one was crewed by aliens. As in extraterrestrials. Three blond, big-bodied beings — two females, one male — visited her when she was 7 years old and have communicated telepathically with her several times in her life, she says. (Sen. Bill Nelson served as payload officer aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1986. All seven people aboard were from Earth. As far as is known.)...

Dive Brief: The Florida Turnpike broke ground earlier this month on a new test track where it will experiment with high-speed toll technology as well as systems for vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle communications, according to FleetOwner. The 400-acre SunTrax site, in Auburndale, FL, will test toll equipment and interoperable tolling systems, as well as smartphone-based payment methods. Other technologies to be tested include high-speed connected platooning trucks, moveable barrier systems and machine vision and materials testing for new pavement types, lane markings and signage. Construction on the site's oval track is expected to be complete in spring 2019 with the first...