ELKHART, Ind. – Members and supporters of the RV Women’s Alliance got RV Open House Week off to an enthusiastic start Monday morning with a breakfast meeting featuring U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, R.-Ind., outside the Furrion facility.
About 150 gathered to hear an update and encouragement from Walorski, who represents Indiana’s 2nd District, which includes Elkhart.
Walorski told of how her experiences as a missionary in Romania with her husband set the table for her to become a U.S. House representative.
The Walorskis were in Romania on Sept. 11, 2001, when commercial planes that had been hijacked by terrorists brought down the World Trade Center.
“We had a heart for Romania, but we wanted to help people in Indiana,” she said. “The great thing about America is you can always remake yourself.”
She said that promoting the RV industry in Washington, D.C., has become a passion for her because the industry employs so many people in the area and provides a good living for many people.
That passion translates to her persistence in the House and when talking to the president.
“After working in a male-dominated environment, when you get in a room with a bunch of women wo start sharing their stories, there’s so much passion,” Walorski said.
Her next priority in the House is to use that passion to encourage her fellow representatives to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement – a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement – so President Trump can place his full attention of getting a trade agreement with China, something she expects to happen before the end of the session.
“It is vitally important that women carry the torch of leadership,” she said. “Women are passionate. When women get together, things move. Follow that passion. It can take you places you never thought you would be.”