Social conservativesare weighing in on the U.S. Senate ending the dont ask, dont tell policy on gays serving in the military over the weekend.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, invited South Florida Congressman Tom Rooney, to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

The Intelligence Committee helps make decisions on issues of national security and provides oversight, policy and funding for the country's intelligence organizations.

I am honored to serve on the Intelligence Committee, and I appreciate the faith and trust that Speaker Boehner has placed in me by appointing me to this post, Rooney said in a released statement Friday afternoon.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum issued a notice Friday urging victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to carefully review their payments before agreeing to a settlement with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility.

Incoming Gov. Rick Scott weighed in on Friday on the states continuing high unemployment. On Friday morning, it was announced the unemployment rate in Florida rose to 12 percent in November.

CNN and the Tea Party express will host a debate among Republican presidential candidates in Tampa during Labor Day week in 2011, CNN revealed Friday. The exact venue has not been revealed.

The 24-hour news network is touting the debate at the site of the 2012 Republican national convention as "first-of-its-kind."

Arguing that letting them expire would constitute a serious tax increase, U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., voted to back the extension of tax cuts for all Americans.

Florida's unemployment outlook only got worse in November. The state's unemployment rate increased to 12 percent last month, up slightly from October's 11.9 percent rate, according to a report released Friday by the state Agency for Workforce Innovation.

While congressional Democrats came close to stopping extension ofthe 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for all Americans, Florida Democrat U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said she was glad the measure passed.

I fought for tax cuts so hard-working families will have more money in their paychecks and improved prospects for a better economy. I am pleased businesses will receive vital relief as well, said Castor, who praised many of the bill's provisions, including extending unemployment benefits.

U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis joined U.S. Rep. Connie Mack as the only Republicans from Florida who voted against extending the tax cuts backed by George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003.

Bilirakis voted against the measure late last night, arguing that it added to the deficit.

U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, applauded the passage of the compromise bill that extended the Bush-era tax cuts for all income levels for two years, lowered the estate tax, extended unemployment benefits for 13 months and cut payroll taxes for workers for one year. He also criticized the $1.1 trillion omnibus appropriations bill that was slated to come up for a vote in the Senate on Thursday but was pulled at the last minute.