PALIKIR, POHNPEI. JANUARY 13, 2026 – The Third Regular Session of the Twenty-Fourth Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia convened today in Palikir and seated Andrew R. Yatilman as the new at-Large and 4-year representative of the State
of Yap.
Yatilman was elected on November 12, 2025 to fill the seat vacated by the long-serving Member of the Congress and former President Joseph J. Urusemal who passed away mid-September 2025. Yatilman is a son of Satawal Island in Yap and a product of
Xavier High School in Chuuk who spent the last 40 years in public service at the state and national levels of government.
Senator Yatilman began his public service at the University of Guam where he worked towards his Bachelor of Science in Public Administration and simultaneously conducted research work for the university. His first employment in the FSM was at the Xavier High School in 1986 after which he continued with the government of the state of Yap. In 1999, Yatilman was elected Lieutenant Governor of the state. He continued working with the state after his term until he was nominated and confirmed to be the Secretary of the FSM Department of Transportation and Communications in 2005.
In the following National Government Administration of 2007, Yatilman was appointed to head the Nation’s new Office of Environment, Climate Change and Emergency Management. Ten years later, the office became a national department and Yatilman was nominated and confirmed in 2017 as the Secretary of the newly installed Department of Environment, Climate Change and Emergency Management (DEECM). He maintained the post of Secretary until he took the Oath of Office as a Member of the 24 th Congress of the FSM on January 13, 2026.