Restart Air Service to the CNMI, Restore Compliance with Annex VI

This week, I wrote to newly confirmed Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, urging him to honor the international agreement that exempts the CNMI from flight restrictions on U.S.-China air service. The CNMI is struggling. I hear from employees worried they won’t get enough hours to cover rent and business owners questioning whether they can afford to stay open. Right now, we have a tourism economy without the tourists—and job number one is to reopen our market and bring money back into your pockets. Unfortunately, decisions made by others have made that difficult and despite our need's flights are being held back. The failure to advocate for restoring pre-pandemic tourism markets has impacted all of us and violates the very agreements specifically made for situations like the one we are in now. Following up on the letter, I met with Secretary Duffy during a meeting of the Republican members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee where I reiterated my request and made the case for the Department of Transportation to help us restore air access, bring back tourism, and create real opportunities for our people.