U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, said he will draw from the experience of his father, Frank E. Mrvan Jr., who worked in the Indiana State Senate as a Democrat amid growing Republican majorities. Mrvan, who was sworn in Friday to start his third term, said as he enters the 119th Congress it will be his first time in the U.S. House with a Republican president and a slim Republican majority. “I look to how my father survived — and thrived — in the Indiana state legislature for 40 years and working in a bipartisan way,” Mrvan said. “His superpower was his ability to build relationships with not (only) members of the Democratic caucus but also members of the Republican caucus. I look upon that, and I (want to) do that myself.” U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, (center) poses for pictures with some of his followers during the election night watch party for him at Laborers’ Local 41 in Munster on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (John Smierciak / Post-Tribune) Mrvan said as a congressman he has to network with all members of Congress, create relationships with the president and the president’s staff and government and union leaders in Indiana. Through these connections, Mrvan said he will work toward finding common ground. “Finding that common ground in legislation that moves Northwest Indiana forward is ultimately my mission. What he taught me very specifically is to run through walls and overcome obstacles,” Mrvan said. As he starts his third term, Mrvan said he looks forward to working with Indiana stakeholders, like former U.S. Senator and Governor-elect Mike Braun, who he worked with in Congress, the Indiana legislature, mayors, and public safety officials, to deliver for the region. Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb (left) greets U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, (right) as he arrives during a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Miller Station in Gary to commemorate the South Shore Line Double Track NWI Project on Monday, May 13, 2024. (John Smierciak/for the Post-Tribune) Mrvan said he had a “wonderful relationship” working with outgoing Gov. Eric Holcomb on projects for Northwest Indiana, including the South Shore double tracking and securing funding for the Midwest Regional MachH2 hydrogen hub mega-project at the BP Whiting Refinery. Moving forward, Mrvan said he looks forward to working with the Braun Administration to build the MachH2 hydrogen hub, which will bring construction jobs and an economic boost to the region. Once it is built, Mrvan said the hydrogen hub will improve air and water quality throughout Northwest Indiana and allow the steel mills to use the hydrogen in the blast furnace to create a greener product. Mrvan said he looks forward to working toward protecting education and fighting for the steel industry and organized laborers and workers in the 119th Congress. Congressman Frank Mrvan (right) addresses the crowd. Jeromy Montesano (left) president of Wingtip Aviation and the new tenant for the aircraft hanger listens during a groundbreaking at the Gary/Chicago International Airport on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (John Smierciak/Post-Tribune) Mrvan intends to re-introduce several bills he authored from the 118th Congress: Stop Mexico’s Steel Surge Act, Gold Star Family Education Parity Act, VA Acquisition Review Board Act, and Veterans Health Administration Leadership Transformation Act. He will also support an amendment to the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, which would authorize grants to ensure access for victims of family violence, domestic violence and dating violence, among other things. Mrvan said he also looks forward to continuing to secure appropriations for Community Project Funding requests for Northwest Indiana. As the House votes on a speaker, Mrvan said he will support U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, to be speaker. It’s the majority party’s responsibility to vote for the member they would like to see be speaker, he said. The House voted Friday afternoon to make Louisiana Republican Rep. Mike Johnson speaker again — by a razor-thin margin of 218-215 over Jeffries — after Trump called a trio of GOP holdouts to convince them to support Johnson, according to the Associated Press. Momentous first day As a freshman Congressman, Mrvan’s first day in Congress was Jan. 6, 2021. On that day, a mob of Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the election for President Joe Biden. Mrvan, who had to go to a safe, undisclosed location in the capitol that day, said what that experience – as well as the 2024 presidential election – taught him is that Congress has to work to bring people together. “People want and deserve a Congress that works together to be able to solve issues,” Mrvan said. In December, Congress passed a spending bill through March 14 hours before a deadline that could’ve led to a government shutdown. Ahead of the shutdown, lawmakers successfully negotiated a deal to fund government agencies, but it fell apart after President-elect Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk called on Republicans to reject it. At the last minute, Trump demanded a debt limit increase, which wasn’t in the final spending bill that Congress approved on Dec. 21, 2024. The demand was almost an impossible task, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around his pressure for a debt ceiling increase. The speaker knew there wouldn’t be enough support within the GOP majority to pass any funding package, since many Republican deficit hawks prefer to slash the deferral government and certainly wouldn’t allow more debt. The drastically slimmed-down 118-page package would fund the government at current levels through March 14 and add $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers. Mrvan said working on the spending bill required a bipartisan approach to keep the government open, the economy going, and ensure “certainty in the United States government.” In the original bill, which was 1,500 pages, there was a change to a funding mechanism for Gary Methodist Hospital, Mrvan said. But, when the bill was cut down, Mrvan said that part of the bill was taken out. “There was a moment where we were doing everything, we can find common ground,” Mrvan said. “There was an original negotiation, we were all voting on it, and then, all of the sudden, that bill got dismantled.” While it was clear some Republicans were acting on the cues from Musk’s public comments, Mrvan said ultimately, they voted to avoid a government shutdown. “What (Musk) does is absolutely his business. If it’s a good idea for Northwest Indiana, I’ll consider it,” Mrvan said. “He’s not a resident of Northwest Indiana, so I take things accordingly.” Mrvan said he will focus on getting the bills he’s authored through. Where he can, Mrvan said he will work with the Trump Administration. For example, Trump has proposed the Section 232 tariffs, which protect the steel industry and prevent subsidized steel from being dumped in the U.S., Mrvan said. “Where I can support his efforts, that are good for Northwest Indiana and good for our economy … then we will work together. Where I have to make sure that I stand up for union workers, for working men and women and for Northwest Indiana, I will do so,” Mrvan said. “I am preparing to be able to make sure that I am accepting of all good things but making sure I continue to keep my values in representing our region.” [email protected]