At the 2026 Senior Plenary Session of the Interagency Group on Insular Affairs (IGIA) at the U.S. Department of the Interior, Governor David M. Apatang delivered the CNMI’s gubernatorial address alongside fellow territorial leaders and federal partners.
The message was clear: the CNMI is not asking for special treatment — we are calling for targeted reforms that recognize the unique realities of our Commonwealth and the critical role we play in America’s presence in the Pacific.
Discussions focused on air service, cabotage, deep sea mining, and protecting the EVS-TAP program, with continued collaboration across agencies including the U.S. Department of Transportation.
As the Governor emphasized, this is about securing a federal partnership that matches security with economic reality, resilience with opportunity — and positions our islands to recover, stabilize, and move toward self-sufficiency.
