DURING his recent meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios said he reiterated the CNMI’s commitment to national security.
Palacios met Hegseth on Guam along with Guam Gov. Lourdes Leon Guerrero and Guam Delegate James Moylan.
“As part of being Americans, we also understand the needs of national security. We reiterated our commitment to national security while making sure that [our] community is healthy and thriving,” Palacios said.
Hegseth traveled to Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines, and Japan last week to participate in a series of bilateral meetings that aim to strengthen security, alliances and partnerships in the region.
“We [also] need their [the U.S. government’s] help to make that happen, to be mutually beneficial for the people in the Commonwealth, in Guam and the region, so that we can thrive, and we’ll be there for the national security issue. We talked about the different aspects of the wants and needs of the Commonwealth and Guam,” Palacios said.
He said he asked the Defense secretary to make sure that the Commonwealth’s power system and infrastructure are in place.
“Because if we don’t have … basic infrastructure … it will work against national security and make things harder for the Defense Department and for a thriving community and a thriving economy,” Palacios added.
Asked about China, he said, “We all know what national security we’re talking about, and that’s, you know, in the Indo-Pacific, it’s China. We know about the national security issue in the Pacific, [the] Pacific deterrence initiative.”
