In The News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Debate could begin as soon as this week in the U.S. Senate on a proposed six-year federal highway funding bill that includes three years of guaranteed funding for the Highway Trust Fund. The proposal comes ahead of the expiration of the latest short-term extension for federal road funding on July 31. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) announced a tentative agreement, struck with Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California,) the ranking Democrat on the U.S.... Read More

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., voted in favor of the agriculture appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2016, which the senators said provides funding for a number of West Virginia priorities, including rural broadband expansion and free and reduced-price school lunches. The FY2016 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill would invest in food and drug safety and provide essential nutrition assistance for children, families and... Read More

U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito voted Thursday to overhaul a decades-old education law that promises to roll back federal oversight of schools and shift more control to states and local-level educators. Manchin and Capito applauded the bipartisan effort to pass the Every Child Achieves Act, which serves as a rewrite of the outdated and now-maligned George W. Bush-era No Child Left Behind Act, which required states to develop rigorous academic standards and student assessments... Read More

HUNTINGTON - First-term U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., talked about the energy industry's fight against tightened Environmental Protection Agency regulations and the importance of a long-term solution for the nation's Highway Trust Fund during a conference call with reporters Wednesday. Capito, West Virginia's first female senator, reflected on her first six months in office and said she believes open dialogue is moving legislation at a faster pace in the Republican-controlled... Read More

MARTINSBURG - Monday was Shelley Moore Capito's six-month anniversary as a member of the U.S. Senate. "I'm extremely excited at my six-month mark," Capito, R-W.Va., told reporters Wednesday during a conference call. "We've settled into our main office. There are a lot of bright faces working for West Virginia and for me." Capito was elected during last year's general election by an overwhelming majority to become the first female U.S. senator from West Virginia, and the first Republican... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito marked her first six months in the Senate Wednesday. “My voice is much more focused. It’s louder and I think do have a much greater ability to make an impact,” Capito said. In the last six months the Senate has started to work again according to Capito. “We made a major fix to a health care issue. We’ve also moved forward in passing the first balanced budget in over nine years,” she said.... Read More

It was known as the “world’s greatest deliberative body,” a phrase believed to have been coined by former President James Buchanan in 1867 of the U.S. Senate’s reputation for deep, intelligent and impassioned debate. Of course, that was back in the days after legendary orators like senators Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. Unfortunately, after Nevada Democrat Harry Reid became majority leader in 2007, the U.S. Senate was anything but great or deliberative. Fortunately,... Read More

Celebrating her first six months in the U.S. Senate, Shelley Moore Capito hosted aconference call with reporters on Wednesday to provide a recap of her time and accomplishments in the chamber. Citing the passage of several bipartisan bills, the junior senator said the early months of the year have provided clarity on a number of issues ranging from health care to the federal budget. “We made a major fix to a health care issue,” said Capito, R-W.Va., referring to the passage of the... Read More

The Supreme Court has ruled against federal regulators' attempt to limit power plant emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants. The rules began to take effect in April, but the court said by a 5-4 vote this week that the Environmental Protection Agency failed to take their cost into account when the agency first decided to regulate the toxic emissions from coal- and oil-fired plants. The challenge was brought by industry groups and 21 states. Writing for the court, Justice Antonin... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed “Clean Power Plan” will greatly impact businesses, rural communities and families nationwide, according to Paul Cicio, president of Industrial Energy Consumers of America. “We know, including the EPA knows, there’s costs. The EPA does not want to hurt people by higher energy costs, but this rule will,” said Cicio, during a Tuesday hearing chaired by U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito... Read More

A U.S. Senate clean air panel on Tuesday will examine the Obama administration’s controversial Clean Power Plan and Republican efforts to block its proposed regulations on coal-fired power plants. The panel, a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, is led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. In addition to reviewing proposed regulations, the panel will discuss a bill Capito introduced last month that would not only block the Environmental Protection... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. on Friday announced the initial schedule for her statewide "Capito Connect" listening tour in West Virginia. As part of the Capito Connect Plan announced last month, Capito urged West Virginians to attend a listening session, and share their comments and suggestions for improving broadband access in the Mountain State. "Equipping our state with the broadband infrastructure needed to compete and thrive in today's economy is one of my... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. on Friday announced the initial schedule for her statewide "Capito Connect" listening tour in West Virginia. As part of the Capito Connect Plan announced last month, Capito urged West Virginians to attend a listening session, and share their comments and suggestions for improving broadband access in the Mountain State. "Equipping our state with the broadband infrastructure needed to compete and thrive in today's economy is one of my... Read More

Editor’s note: The Register-Herald’s parent company, Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., has papers all over the United States. Each Friday, this space will be dedicated to what one of those papers thinks about the issues facing their communities. We have seen a lot of progress in recent years when it comes to closing the so-called digital divide in rural America, and specifically in the coalfields of southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia. But there are still areas in our... Read More

Two weeks ago U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) unveiled her bold high-speed Internet/broadband initiative called the Capito Connect Plan. In it she layed out a three-step approach to tackling the broadband challenge in West Virginia. The three steps are: understanding the benefits of a connected West Virginia; fostering collaboration between government and the private sector; and promoting economic growth through innovation. Senator Capito also launched what she and her staff are... Read More

Some of our older readers might remember the days when cities had electricity, but many rural areas did not. From our perspective years later, that inequity may seem unimaginable or even unfair. But in the 1920s, it did not appear to be economically feasible to wire the nation and give every American the opportunity to flip a switch and see the lights come on. With less dense populations, power companies feared the initial infrastructure costs would never be recouped. It took public investment... Read More

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., on Tuesday co-sponsored a bi-partisan measure that seeks to limit medical malpractice lawsuits. A press release from Capito's office reported that the Saving Lives, Saving Costs Act would allow physicians who can demonstrate that they followed recommended best practices, developed by the physician community, to "benefit from increased liability protection in the form of a legal safe harbor.” "In order to make health care affordable to all... Read More

It’s difficult to do just about anything without some sort of connection to the World Wide Web. Everything from banking to health care to shopping can be, and often is, done on the Internet. But what about residents of the state — the Federal Communications Commission estimates about 74 percent of people living in rural areas — that don’t have access to broadband services? It’s an issue that’s been talked about for a while. And while some work has been done to... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and 3rd District Congressman Evan Jenkins criticized a new EPA rule backed by the Obama Administration that gives the government authority to regulate any private body of water. Both Republicans called the law another example of EPA overreach that will negatively affect not only West Virginia, but all states. “What kind of onus is this going to put on our local construction, or golf courses, or farmers to have to have... Read More

A bill currently under consideration by the U.S. Senate would make it easier for state natural-resources officials to construct new shooting ranges. The legislation, introduced by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, would make the ranges easier for the states to afford, and it would allow them to be built on federally owned lands. Paul Johansen, wildlife chief for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, says the bill could help the DNR put ranges in parts of the state where there currently are... Read More