This past Friday morning, Indiana’s District 1 U.S. Representative Frank Mrvan paid Merrillville High School a visit to speak to Mr. Winters’ government classes about what he does in Congress to properly represent the citizens of the state and what it takes to do so.
Mrvan got his start working alongside his father who was a state representative. The job became a family affair and inspired Mrvan to pursue politics. He started as a township trustee and for the next decade has climbed the later to be placed into the most recent cycle of Congress.
Mrvan has been a member of the House of Representatives for the past three years and has helped people in the surrounding communities. He spends most of his time in communities all day and all night listening to the voices of the people.
“I can’t lead if I don’t know what’s going on in the community,” he said.
He works to improve numerous aspects and qualities of District 1 such as increases in jobs and education, opportunities for Careers in Technical Education, and is even on the House Committee of Veteran Affairs in Congress alongside various other committees as well.
Frank Mrvan described his time in Congress as something that keeps him extremely busy as he engages in constant briefings on what is happening in the state, government, and the world itself. This on top of preparations, more meetings, and tons of issues he finds himself wanting to solve, creates a specific kind of chaos in Mrvan’s field.
“[It’s like] drinking out of a firehose, sitting on the tip of a racket, all these things coming at you a million miles an hour,” he said.
Power in Congress makes for a very influential person, and Mrvan makes sure to his to help those in need. He tries to reflect the interests of those in the community and make decisions according to them as best as he can. Mrvan expressed that what helps him greatly is the fact that he has built the ability to communicate which allows for people to want to communicate with him as well. However, getting the needs and wants of his constituents implemented through Congress isn’t as easy as he makes it sound. Again, power is influential, and everyone yearns for it for their own gain.
“[It’s like] crabs in a bucket who crawl over each other to get to the top,” he said.
In the future, Mrvan plans to continue to implement a great variety of helpful tools and opportunities for communities in District 1, such as a hydrogen hub in Whiting which gives up to 16,000 jobs in construction.
Many of Mrvan’s plans revolve around compromises between Indiana’s eight other representatives, seven of which belong to the Republican party and two to the Democratic. Despite describing his meetings with them as just talking, he feels that no one is really listening. This is why Mrvan values getting the job done himself and unifying others rather than tearing people apart, and he notes the differences between them and himself.
“[There’s a] difference between anxiety and aspirators. [They’re either] scared or [they] believe in doing something right.”
