Capito seeks $1.6 M for a new courthouse, $7 M for STS work

is trying to earmark $1.6 million for a new Morgan County Courthouse in the appropriations bills now being considered in U. S. Congress.

Capito's list of "earmarked" budget requests was released last week and also included $7 million for the work of STS International in Morgan County.

Capito is seeking money for the new courthouse from three different areas.

She hopes to secure $1 million in

construction funds from federal Transportation and Housing & Urban Development funds.

She is seeking $500,000 assistance for the courthouse from federal agriculture spending.

She has requested another $100,000 for courthouse security equipment from federal commerce, justice and science allocations.

Capito's request for STS Technologies involves $7 million in defense funding for the company's research into identifying potential terrorists using biometrics.

Capito is also seeking $344,000 for improvements to the record keeping system at Martinsburg City Hospital; $100,000 for new job training programs at James Rumsey Technical School; and $50,000 for computers for Martinsburg Public Library.

Her complete list of requests includes more than $65 million for 35 projects throughout the state's second Congressional District.

Her largest request is $23 million for construction of U. S. 35, a new four-lane highway between I-64 and the Ohio border.

No guarantee

Capito cautioned that these were her requests to the House Appropriations Committee and no funding is guaranteed at this time.

In making public her complete list of "earmark" requests, Capito joined a small group of members of Congress who spelled out what projects they are seeking money for. Some news services reported being turned down by most representatives when they asked for this information.

"Operating our government in a more open and transparent way is a goal worthy of every member of Congress," Capito said. "I am not anti-earmark, nor do I believe the word