While in the nation’s capital earlier this week, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios met with Patrick O’Brien, the director of the U.S. Department of Defense-Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation. The agency provides technical and financial assistance to states, territories and communities that are invested in defense missions, and has helped fund a number of past and ongoing projects in the CNMI. Governor Palacios was in Washington, D.C. at the invitation of the White House to attend the U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum Summit, which included a series of meetings and activities at the White House and U.S. Department of State. The governor joined other leaders of Pacific island nations and jurisdictions during meetings with President Joe Biden and other senior federal officials.
