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As part of an ongoing Women's Month series, WOWK's Adrienne Robbins visited with Senator Capito this week to discuss her experiences as the first female U.S. Senator from West Virginia and the path that lead there. Check out the video above where Senator offers up some advice and talks about getting more women and girls involved in the political process.

This week Senator Capito announced over one million dollars in funding to help improve the health of mothers and children through support resources and education. “Alarmingly, maternal mortality rates are on the rise in the United States, and statistics are even more troubling in rural states like West Virginia,” Senator Capito said. “In addressing this serious issue, grants like these help develop strategies and services that can improve health outcomes for mothers and their children both during pregnancy and after. The Healthy Start Initiative has been successful in West Virginia, and I’m hopeful these funds will continue to support families and save lives.” The funding will be granted to the West Virginia University Research Corporation through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration's Healthy Start Initiative. In its nearly 28 years the Healthy Start Initiative began has grown from a project in 15 communities to 100 Healthy Start projects in 37 states and the District of Columbia.

Senator Capito introduced the bipartsian POWER Act to provide state and local law enforcement with high-tech devices to detect and identify dangerous drugs like fentanyl. The Providing Officers with Electronic Resources (POWER) Act would establish a new grant program through the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to help state and local law enforcement organizations secure high-tech, portable screening devices. “Our local law enforcement plays a vital role in efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, and one of the ways they are helping in these efforts is by detecting and stopping the flow of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids,” Senator Capito said. “The POWER Act will help state and local law enforcement obtain the tools necessary to quickly detect these dangerous drugs and ultimately keep them out of communities in West Virginia and across the country.” These devices are already used by federal law enforcement to identify dangerous drugs at U.S. ports of entry. Instant results allow officers to quickly alert local health departments and others when fentanyl is found in a community so they can notify known users and help prevent accidental overdoses. The devices also help address the backlog of drugs awaiting laboratory identification, allowing law enforcement to more effectively conduct drug investigations and prosecutions and crack down on drug trafficking. "Legislation like the POWER Act can truly save lives, and I will continue working to develop and support new and innovative solutions like this one that will tackle this crisis from all angles, concluded Senator Capito."

This week we head to West Virginia’s northern panhandle for a double dose from local news outlets!

Weirton Daily Times: W.Va. Receiving Grant for Drug Treatment: “The drug epidemic has devastated so many families and so many communities across West Virginia, and federal funding like this plays an important role in helping us fight back against the opioid crisis,” Capito said. “I am glad to see this critical funding come to our state and will continue to advocate for these much-needed resources.”

WTRF 7 News: Sen. Capito Reacts to Amazon Broadband Report: "I think the Amazon report through the US Chamber really backs up what 'Capito Connect' has been all about," said Senator Capito. "The expansion of broadband in our state will not only employ more people, it will also increase the amount of business which allows people to move in. It brings younger people in to West Virginia. It becomes the new economy for West Virginia."