CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) is about to become the highest-ranking woman in the U.S. Senate, and she hopes to use that clout to tackle issues of interest to West Virginia. Senator Capito also becomes the state’s senior senator with the retirement of Senator Joe Manchin.
Senator Capito will now chair the Republican Policy Committee, the fourth highest-ranking leader in the Senate. She will also be chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which has influence on some energy policies. She will help shepherd legislation for incoming President-elect Donald Trump.
Capito says one of the biggest items on the agenda is getting rid of new regulations restricting coal-fired power plants and the use of fossil fuels.
“We have to have a serious all-of-the-above energy policy and not pick winners and losers like the Biden administration has been doing. And that means moving forward and discovering our own resources,” said Capito.
Senator Capito says another big issue is U.S. border security, especially all of the illegal fentanyl that is being smuggled in from Mexican drug cartels. A lot of those drugs wind up in Appalachia, with the highest overdose death rate in the nation.
The senator says it’s also important to renew tax cuts that were approved in 2017. Some of them expire next year.
