In The News

Most people don’t realize eating disorders are a severe problem affecting 30 million Americans (60,000 estimated in West Virginia). Victims include 20 million women and 10 million men. Teen girls are especially vulnerable because the culture pressures them to look slim — thus, some starve themselves obsessively. One report says: “Eating disorders result in about 7,000 deaths a year as of 2010, making them the mental illness with the highest mortality rate.”Sen. Shelley... Read More

The nation's lawmakers in Washington and President Obama earlier this month hailed the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act. They focused much of the fanfare on stepping up efforts to cure cancer and Alzheimer's disease, devoting resources to battling the opioid epidemic and improving access to mental health treatment. All of those are important elements of the act. The increase in resources to combat and prevent addiction to drugs is especially important for our region - one of the hardest-hit... Read More

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s top officials have high hopes for 2017 as both President-elect Donald Trump and Governor-elect Jim Justice prepare to take office. “I’m really excited about working with the Trump administration,” said U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.). “We all are pledging to work with Governor-elect Justice and making sure that, again, that we’re moving forward on policies that are going to get people back to... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) says recent passage of the Water Infrastructure Improvements Act for the Nation will modernize water infrastructure and address flood prevention. “Of particular importance to West Virginia, this bill gives states authority and certainty when regulating coal ash, calls for a study of flood-risk management projects within the Kanawha River Basin, authorizes funding for the high hazard dams across West Virginia that are... Read More

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Friday night will mark six months since historic flood waters ripped through parts of central and southeastern West Virginia, washing away homes and claiming nearly two dozen lives. Not one West Virginian can say they don’t remember that devastating day on June 23, 2016, including U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.). “West Virginia has had a really rough time,” she said. With the new year approaching, Capito said, “It should be our... Read More

The Stream Protection Rule, recently released by the Obama administration, is yet another indication that governing under President Barack Obama has been more about preening before constituency groups than actually accomplishing much for the public. Thrown into the mix in the last days of the Obama Administration, this new environmental rule is viewed with skepticism by many, including U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who has vowed to block its effects. “The Stream Protection Rule... Read More

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) won’t be alone in protesting the recently released final iteration of the Obama Administration’s Stream Protection Rule. “I joined with 22 other Senators to ask the Administration to please not move forward with any more rules and regulations as you are going out the door,” she said Monday morning on MetroNews “Talkline” with Hoppy Kercheval. “And obviously, that’s not what... Read More

West Virginia was awarded about $87 million through a federal grant to use toward flood relief, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., announced Monday evening. The $87 million comes from a disaster relief program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Block Grant, according to a release from Capito’s office. It’s in addition to the $17 million the program dedicated in October to help the Mountain State recover from the historic June floods. In... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito is asking President-elect Donald Trump to address the Miners Protection Act early in his administration after a short-term extension of miners’ health benefits. “There will be a need to address this issue again in the early part of next year,” Capito spokeswoman Ashley Berrang told The West Virginia Record. A government-funding bill known as the “continuing resolution” also calls for critical resources... Read More

CHARLESTON – U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito has joined 21 other senators in urging President Obama to stop issuing new, non-emergency rules and regulations while his term wraps up. Capito, a West Virginia Republican, was one of 22 senators to stress they expect to have regulatory relief based on what the American people have dictated with the results of the Nov. 8 election. “Far-reaching regulations have been a key pillar of this administration, hurting farmers, small businesses,... Read More

Since World War II, mostly out-of-state owners have eliminated 100,000 West Virginia mine jobs by replacing workers with machines. Lately, numerous coal corporations declared bankruptcy to duck liability for miner pension and health plans. As the coal industry shrinks, less revenue is pumped into the United Mine Workers various medical and pension funds, created with federal help in 1946 to resolve a national coal strike. The problem became a crisis this year as 16,000 retired miners in seven... Read More

Last week, Congress approved a continuing resolution that will fund the federal government through April 2017. The resolution also extended healthcare benefits for tens of thousands of miners and their families by four months. Members of Congress spent more than a year debating how to fund both the healthcare and pensions of tens of thousands of miners across the country. The benefits were promised to miners more than 40 years ago by the federal government, but funding for the programs is... Read More

West Virginia lags behind most states in a variety of economic opportunity indicators. Among the most critical is availability of high-speed internet access. Our state ranks 45th on a list of 56 states and territories examined by the federal government for broadband access. It is available to only about two-thirds of the state, according to one study. Another study estimates as many as 56 percent of Mountain State residents lack adequate broadband service. Given our terrain, it simply is not... Read More

Shelley Moore Capito has spent much of her first two years as the junior U.S. senator from West Virginia trying to limit the damage being done to the coal industry and the economy of our state by the policies of the Obama administration. If not for her – and Joe Manchin's – efforts to stem the tide of bureaucratic tyranny, we'd be much worse off than we are now. Late last year, she and Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota introduced a bipartisan resolution of disapproval in... Read More

A federal bill passed last week may ultimately help expand treatment options for the tens of thousands of West Virginians who will suffer from an eating disorder in their lifetime, officials say. The 21 Century Cures Act, which, along with the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016, passed the Senate with a 94-5 vote last week and is expected to be signed by President Barack Obama today, contains key aspects of the Anna Westin Act, a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. The act,... Read More

CHARLESTON, WV (WCHS/WVAH) — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. has asked President-elect Donald Trump to include broadband internet expansion to any future infrastructure proposals made in his administration. In a letter to Trump dated Dec. 9, Capito called high-speed internet access a "pillar" of 21st century infrastructure and said Trump's policies on pipelines and highways should apply to broadband as well. Overhauling the nation's infrastructure was one of Trump's... Read More

West Virginia’s Republican congressional and state leaders say they are ready to work with President-elect Donald Trump on rolling back cumbersome environmental regulations while also working to promote a business-friendly environment. We believe the local delegation will be well positioned — both in Washington and Charleston — to make positive change. Republicans control both West Virginia legislative houses, both houses of the U.S. Congress and soon the presidency. Members of... Read More

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Those vowing to fight for a long-term fix to union miners’ healthcare plans lost a showdown in Congress, but West Virginia’s congressional delegation vowed to take up the fight again next month. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump, asking him to work on the issue as he assumes office. Trump promised to fight for miners and their jobs when he visited West Virginia last spring. “Preserving... Read More

WASHINGTON DC — Senator Shelley Moore Capito is calling on President-Elect Donald Trump to make the Miners Protection Act a priority in his first days in office. Capito voted in the majority in favor of the continuing resolution on Friday night to fund the government. The resolution contained only a short-term solution for the pending problems associated with retired miner’s health benefits. “I am very disappointed that the continuing resolution only extends health care... Read More

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) is calling on President-elect Donald Trump to take up the cause of miners’ healthcare benefits, after a provision championed by coal-state senators was left out of a stopgap funding bill passed by the Senate on Friday night. “Preserving retirement benefits for our nation’s coal miners is among the most important and pressing items on the congressional agenda,” Capito wrote in a letter to Trump late... Read More