Relating his familys history and invoking the Statue of Liberty and the biblical Exodus, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., closed on his immigration reform bill in a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday afternoon. No one should dispute that, like every sovereign nation, we have a right to control who comes in, Rubio said. But unlike other countries, we are not afraid of people coming in from other places. Instead, inspired by our Judeo-Christian principles, we Americans have seen the stranger and invited them in.

The Republican Party of Lake County will be hosting a forum Thursday evening to discuss the pros and cons of the Common Core State Standards. The free public forum will be held at 7 p.m. at the Tavares Community Center in Tavares. Another forum will be held in Clermont in July. The Common Core State Standards is a U.S. educational initiative set to ensure students are prepared for college and beyond by focusing onEnglish and Language Arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, technical subjects standards, and mathematics.

Michael Levi from the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) will be the keynote speaker at the 2013 Florida Energy Summit, state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam announced on Thursday. Michael Levi is a great addition to the lineup for the 2013 Florida Energy Summit, said Putnam. The summit will be an opportunity for Floridas energy stakeholders to hear from this national expert on what the sweeping changes in this countrys energy policies and resources will mean for the future of Florida.

On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., announced he would be hosting a conference on federal contracting at Florida Tech in Melbourne on Aug. 5-6. Many of our local businesses specialize in technology, innovation and services that are applicable to meeting the needs of federal agencies, said Posey. Learning how to navigate the federal procurement process and accessing decision-makers within federal agencies helps Space Coast businesses and workers compete.

A major Democratic primary is forming in Broward County for an open Florida House seat. With Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek, facing term limits next year, former Rep. Steve Perman filed to run as a Democrat for the seat at the end of February. For four months Perman was the only candidate in the race -- but a new Democratic contender has jumped in the race. Broward County Mayor Kristin Jacobs, who has served on the Broward County Commission since being first elected to it in 1998, filed her paperwok to run for the House seat on Thursday.

Florida A&M University's Marching 100 band will be returning this fall, Interim President Larry Robinson announced this morning.

Even though Democrats contend that progressive groups were also the target in the Internal Revenue Service tax status probes, the Treasury Department's inspector general has revealed only six progressive groups were targeted by the IRS as opposed to 292 tea party groups that received extra scrutiny. The inspector general's report also revealed that while 100 percent of tea party groups seeking special tax status were put under review, only 30 percent of progressive groups were put under review.

And you thought it's murder-minded jihadist Muslims you had to worry about! Not even close.

We should not underestimate the Iranian influence and presence in the Western Hemisphere, Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement. We cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that many individuals have been sanctioned, indicted, and prosecuted due to their involvement with the Iranian regime, or its proxy Hezbollah, in this region of the world.

On Wednesday, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the Defense of Marriage Act and refused to take a case on Californias Proposition 8, John Stemberger, the president and general counsel of the Florida Family Policy Council and one of the more prominent religious and social conservatives in Florida, weighed in on the matter. Stemberger issued a statement on Wednesday evening:

On Wednesday, former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, who sought the Republican presidential nomination and eventually became the Libertarian presidential nominee in 2012, weighed in on the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling against the Defense of Marriage Act and insisted this would spur his efforts to support same-sex marriage in both Arizona and Florida.

Sunshine State News is hitting the radio airwaves on Wednesday from 3-3:30 p.m. Your humble blogger will be on the Ed Dean radio show, which is hosted by one of the most feisty, informative and entertaining conservatives in Florida. It can be heard onlinehereand on two stations in Central Florida -- 89.3 on the west coast and 90.3 on the Atlantic coast.

Most Republicans in Florida have expressed opposition to the Supreme Court of the United States ruling on Wednesday that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) did not pass constitutional muster. But there is one prominent supporter of the decision in the Florida GOP ranks -- U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who released a statement on Wednesday.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., weighed in on Wednesday after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional. Rubio, who is a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, expressed his opposition to the decision in a statement released early Wednesday afternoon.

With the Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is constitutional, conservative former Congressman Allen West, a favorite of the tea party movement, said the issue of same-sex marriage should be left to the states. West, who has left the door open to a political comeback in 2016, posted on Facebook that voters should have more of a say on the matter instead of leaving it all in the hands of the judicial branch.