Flipping through the pages of the May issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine reveals a familiar face – that of U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. In the article, Capito has advice for women – mostly don’t be afraid of failure.
The article says, “In the history of the United States, just 46 women have ever served in the Senate. A full 20 of them are serving right now – a record high. 20 out of 100, though, is far from equality, and female senators remain notable for their successes in such a male-dominated environment.
Earlier this year, Cosmopolitan spoke with 16 of them about their lives, their careers and how they see the role of women in the Senate in 2015. And they had a lot they wanted to say directly to Cosmo readers. Their best advice on succeeding in your career – and perhaps taking your own Senate seat someday.”
Capito told The Parsons Advocate said she thought there is a lot of interest in woman leadership.
“There are a lot of things they wanted to feature include those serving in the U.S. Senate,” Capito said. “They were interested in how you got where you are and what kind of advice we had for the younger generation. I thought why not!”
Capito said she has been serving in the U.S. Senate, representing West Virginia, since January. She is the first woman Senator to represent our state in the U.S. Senate. She shared some of what is going on and topics specific to Tucker County.
“I gave my maiden speech where I talked about my top priorities,” Capito said. “I talked about a common sense energy plan because West Virginia is an energy state. We have lots of natural gas and coal and we have been feeling under pressure. I have been very active with this topic in my committee work.”
Capito said the U.S. Senate just authorized a bill that will help with keeping CHIPs, the Children’s Health Insurance Program in rural parts of West Virginia including Tucker County.
“You have lots of working parents who can’t afford insurance,” Capito said. “We want to see that the children get insurance because a healthy child becomes a healthy and productive adult. I started with this when I was in the W.Va. Legislature back in the 90s.”
Capito said another bill last week would help address the issue with taxes and federal land. Tucker County’s tax base comes from about 20 percent of the land owners because the rest is federally owned and not taxable.
“Tucker County has this issue because there is lots of federal land and you don’t get the tax revenues,” Capito said. “There is a program called Rural Schools which helps make up part of that tax revenue. We passed that and it should help the schools in Tucker County.”
Capito said the Highway Bill is important to her.
“Corridor H is huge for Tucker County,” Capito said. “We want to make sure we get it funded. We have a long-term bill. We are also working to see folks get back to work.”
Capito explained why she wanted to move to the U.S. Senate.
“Moving from the House to the Senate is more of the same thing, just much bigger and deeper,” Capito said. “The opportunity to make a larger impact quickly is an amazing phenomenon. I am taking advantage of it and will certainly be doing it more and more.”
Capito said the Senate is more collegial.
“We talk with one another more, we try to work out our issues more,” Capito said. “It’s more Senator to Senator. In the House, there are so many members – 435 – it’s harder to work like that. So I think it gives me the opportunity to have a more powerful voice and to have a greater impact much quicker.”
Capito laughed when asked if she had any aspirations of running for governor or president in the future.
“I have never been anyone who aspired to higher office. I have made a good pathway for myself but we will see where this takes me. It is an honor to be here. I am one of only 46 women in the entire history of this country to be a U.S. Senator – and the first woman U.S. Senator from West Virginia. I take that with a great deal of pride.”
Capito said she would continue to work in the areas mentioned as well as working to get more girls interested in math, science, engineering and technology. She said she also wants to work on getting West Virginia healthier. “There is always work to be done and work for our future.”
