In a sign of the growing, critical importance of the Micronesia region to national and regional security, the Defense Department has been asked to assign a permanent representative for the upcoming Compacts of Free Association renewal negotiations.

The issue was raised by Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a U.S. Senate Defense appropriations subcommittee hearing on Tuesday.

"Admiral Aquilino’s posture plans for the Indo-Pacific rely at least in part on maintaining access to compact states, Micronesia, the Marshalls and Palau," he said. "Can you talk about the importance of these compact states to DoD’s mission in the Pacific?"

"They’re very important," Austin responded. "We always aim to be the partner of choice and I think our continued engagement with them will certainly result in additional capability and capacity as we go forward."

Last month President Biden appointed a well-respected career diplomat, ambassador Joseph Yun, as the new special presidential envoy for the compact renewal talks. It underscored the view that the continued relationship with Micronesian countries is a critical national security and geopolitical imperative. And Schatz maintains that the defense department needs a seat at the table too.

"To a certain extent although you’re a silent partner in terms of the nuts and bolts of the negotiation, you’re the biggest deal in the negotiation," he said. "So what I’d like you to consider is appointing someone specifically to be in the room for even the preliminary negotiations. Again, states gotta lead on this but having DoD at the table makes an enormous difference for compact states in terms of conveying to these compact states, how important they are to us. Secretary Blinken and I are great partners and certainly I’m sure that this will be what he will want to see as well. And we will continue to work with the entire interagency to make sure that we are in the right place here. Great, thank you."

The Compacts of Free Association with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall islands expire at the end of next year, and with the Republic of Palau in 2024.