U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., now the chairman of the U.S. House Helsinki Commission, is teaming up with a high profile congressman to try and influence the Middle East peace process. 

Sen. Manny Diaz, Jr.-R-Hialeah Gardens, chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, and Sen. President Pro Tempore David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, announced Thursday key components of legislation the Senate will consider during the 2019 legislative session.

With Gov. Ron DeSantis starting fast out of the gate in Tallahassee, the Legislature ready to convene and a competitive mayoral race in Tampa, it’s easy to overlook one of the more important political developments in Florida: Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry looking pretty secure as he runs for a second term. 

With President Donald Trump getting ready to meet with the leader of the North Korean regime next week, a congressman from Florida is calling on the president to push Kim Jong-un for the remains of American military personnel who are still missing from the Korean War. 

On Thursday, as Trump readies to meet the North Korean dictator in Vietnam, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla.. noted that the fates of more than 5,000 POWs held by  North Korea during the war remain unaccounted for.