WASHINGTON (WV News) — After the U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to pass a bill to suspend the country’s debt limit, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., shared her support for the bill and intent to vote in favor of it once it reaches the Senate.

Capito spoke about the bill — which would suspend the debt limit through Jan. 1 2025, thus preventing a default — during a press conference Thursday. She said that she believes the bill will be passed by the Senate, and voiced her support for it at the same time.

“It prevents a default, so that’s good,” Capito said. “It also curtails spending for the first time in many years. We’re joined together to try to hold the line on spending and get a hold on this tremendous debt that we have. It also claws back some dollars from areas that are problematic, one of which is the IRS. …

“It claws back some COVID dollars. COVID is over, and there are still billions of dollars on the sidelines, so let’s claw that back and use that to pull our spending down. Then, of course, there’s permitting reform in the larger sense, which I think will make projects move faster and be very helpful. … This is a win, and I’m going to take the win and vote for this bill.”

One of those projects, Capito said, is the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline project that has faced a number of setbacks in the past decade. Capito said that despite the project being stuck in a form of “purgatory,” she supports it, and she spent a good portion of the press conference speaking about its potential completion.

“(The pipeline) has almost all of the regulatory nods that it needs,” Capito said.

“It will be deemed permitted and can move forward, and that’s very good news … for folks who will be getting the tax benefits of that, along with the thousands of people who are going to be put to work to complete this pipeline. It’s a big victory for our state. ...

“With the 21-day Corps of Engineers requirement, I think you’ll see people beginning to work on this by July 1. I don’t know when the completion date would be ... but you’ll see dirt flying and thousands of people hired to do that work. You’ll see the pipes that we see along the highway sometimes waiting there to be deployed. There are estimates of 4,000, and that is more tax revenues for our localities.”

Later in the press conference, Capito was asked directly if she would support the pipeline if it were planned to go directly through her property, and she addressed safety concerns others have had.

“The safety aspects of pipelines are amazing,” Capito said. “I feel like pipelines are every, very safe. ... I would have to be assured that monitoring was as exactly as it should be, but those are requirements. Those aren’t just suggestions to pipeline companies. I trust that the safety aspects would be addressed. ...

“The partners in this pipeline have got to make sure that they are not just following the law, but are repairing and taking into account worst-case scenarios. That’s where community involvement will be important, as well as oversight. ... Nothing is 100%, but we’ve got a lot of pipelines going in and around our state very, very safely.”