Florida paid homage to the fallen journalist Steven Sotloff this weekafter a video showing his beheading by terrorists working for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was released.
Floridas two U.S. senators will join up with their colleagues from New Hampshire to introduce a resolution early next week honoring Sotloff and James Foley, a journalist who was also beheaded by ISIL terrorists.
Since Sotloff was originally from Miami, the two senators from the Sunshine State -- Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio -- will be bringing out the resolution with U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte. Foley was a native of Rochester, N.H.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of James Foley and Steven Sotloff, Nelson said on Thursday, when the senators announced their plans to introduce the resolution. Stevens family are my constituents and I've been in touch with them through their representative throughout this horrific ordeal. The United States needs to immediately put together a coalition and go after this group. We need to take the fight directly to them, not only in Iraq but in Syria as well.
Its important that Americans never forget James Foley and Steven Sotloff, the lives they led as successful journalists, and how loved they were by their families and friends, Rubio said. The U.S. Senate should honor these brave men by approving this resolution as soon as Congress reconvenes next week. The American people should also never lose sight of the fact that these awful executions are only the beginning of ISILs plans to sow evil across the Middle East and the world, unless we stop them.
With video of Sotloffs murder being released this week, Gov. Rick Scott ordered flags across Florida to be flown at half-staff on Friday.
On behalf of Ann and myself, and on behalf of all the people of Florida, we want to convey our sorrow and our condolences to the entire Sotloff family. We cannot begin to understand their grief, Scott said on Tuesday after the video was released. The people who did this are evil. They are not merely wrong, they are not adversaries, they are evil. And evil must be confronted and destroyed. In fact, these immoral animals reject the basic code of human morality that crosses all cultures. This is not a political or international disagreement. It is a case of barbarians choosing to set themselves apart from the rest of humanity.
Here is what they need to understand Steve Sotloff was a Floridian, but more importantly he was an American, Scott added. If you attack one American, you are attacking all Americans. Last week President Obama said that his administration does not at present have a strategy for dealing with ISIL these immoral, evil people. I think I can speak for all Floridians and all Americans when I say that the time for a strategy is now, and part of that strategy needs to include destroying them.
Sotloffs parents live in the distrrict represented by U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the chairwoman of the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee. Ros-Lehtinen weighed in on Tuesday, offering her condolences.
I cannot imagine coping with the pain Shirley and Art must be feeling right now as they lose a son due to a savage terrorist organization, and my heart and prayers go out to their entire family, Ros-Lehtinen said. This atrocious and brutal act shows that ISILs cruelty knows no bounds and that it has no respect for human life. ISIL is a global terror group that espouses an ideology that poses a grave threat to regional security as well as U.S. national security interests both at home and abroad.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
