To watch Senator Capito’s interview, click here or on the image above.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of Senate Republican leadership, joined BloombergTV’s “Balance of Power” yesterday to provide an update on the government shutdown.

HIGHLIGHTS:

ON REPUBLICANS WORKING TO END THE SHUTDOWN: “I hope so. I’m always an optimist, but unfortunately…Senator Schumer and others are content to try to reap the political benefit they’re seeing from a shutdown. I think we should be working, and we’re going to be working through what would’ve been a week for us to be back in our home districts. I think it’s right and proper that we’d be back here in D.C…Definitely conversations are happening, we all want to see the government opened, and we have a very simple fix to this, just simply open it with a seven-week extension and no-strings-attached. That’s what’s been offered six times and rejected. We’re going to keep moving forward like this because I think it’s the simplest, most understandable, easiest way for us to get back to our business…This nonpayment of our troops and federal employees is another pressure point that comes October the 15th so I’m hoping we do a very simple reopen the government.”

ON ACA PREMIUM SUBSIDIES: “If you look at what Senator Thune has said on the Senate floor numerous times, he has said to the Democrats and to anybody who’s listening, we’re willing to negotiate and look at these subsidies, but we have to have the government open. That’s a simple proposition. What blows back to me is, ‘there’s no trust.’ I disagree with that. I think our Leader is very trustworthy and is a man of his word and he will do this. He’s told us he will do this…I have 67,000 West Virginians who this is going to impact, so we need to get to the business of opening the government and then getting to the business of trying to find a solution here.”

ON THE SHUTDOWN’S IMPACTS ON RURAL AIRPORTS: “We do have several of these airports in our state. My latest information is that, particularly when we’re looking at the Clarksburg airport because that’s who I most recently talked with, that Secretary Duffy has said there’s going to be funding there to keep these Essential Air Services going. It is critical to rural America, to other places that are not easy to get in and out of and that’s pretty much my whole state. We want to keep that air service going.”

# # #