A well-known Ripley native will be featured in a national project entitled "The Network," set to launch in December.

 Steve Stivers, currently a U.S. Rep-resentative for Ohio's 15th congressional district, will be featured in both a book and a video project - both entitled "The Network" - by video-artist and author Lincoln Schatz.

 Stivers is a Republican who previously served in the Ohio Senate representing the 16th district. He is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Ohio Army National Guard - in which he has served for 28 years - and was on active duty as a Battalion Commander in Iraq from 2004-2005.

 "He was state senator for seven years and then has been in Congress for two years," said Carol Stivers, Steve Stivers' mother. "Now, he has been elected for another two-year term."

 Schatz gathered many well-known individuals from around the country and several industries and filmed them individually to create video portraits. The result is a full-color book of stills and first-person essays by those featured in it to be published on Dec. 11 as well as a moving, video portrait presentation at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., set to open on the same date.

 "I did my interview about six months ago," Stivers said. "What [Schatz] did was, he made a video project with about 100-200 Americans. I was one of the people selected because I represent one of the largest freshman classes in Congress."

 Stivers spoke about the "freshman class" in reference to the newest members of the United States House of Representatives, who will be part of the 113th United States Congress - which will meet Jan. 3, 2013 through Jan. 3, 2015. The 113th Congress is composed of senators and representatives who recently won in the 2012 election and were not incumbents.

 The House will be Republican by majority.

 "There were 99 of us and 12 of them lost their election, so there are 87 of us now," Stivers said. "Most of the freshman class was Republican. We went from having 89 Republicans to now 77 Republicans."

 The freshman class was the main topic of discussion when Schatz interviewed Stivers.

 "He asked me questions and we talked about why I ran for Congress," Stivers said. "We talked a little bit about what I thought the freshman class represented - it was all about my place in the freshman class and the freshman class' place in history. It's the third largest in the history of Congress."

 The 113th Congress will also include 43 African-American members (all in the House of Representatives), 100 female members (a record number, according to the New York Times) and seven openly LGBT members (also a record, according to Human Rights Campaign).