Senate seeks to honor Willens’ role in NMI’s establishment

Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero and Howard Penney Willens

Sen. Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero has introduced a Senate joint resolution to honor Howard Penney Willens, who served as counsel to the Marianas Political Status Commission in the ‘70s, for his efforts toward the establishment of the CNMI.

The resolution, which DeLeon Guerrero filed last week, seeks to honor Willens “for his selfless dedication and many contributions to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.”

Willens, who now lives in the U.S. mainland, served as the assistant counsel to the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy from 1963 through 1964, then was the executive director of the President’s Commission on Crime in the District of Columbia from 1965 through 1966.

DeLeon Guerrero said that Willens became connected to the CNMI through Edward DLG Pangelinan and Herman Q. Guerrero in Washington, D.C. in 1972, when they were members of the Congress of Micronesia.

At that time, Pangelinan was assigned to interview law firms that might potentially guide and represent the Northern Marianas in status negotiations with the United States.

DeLeon Guerrero said that after talking extensively with Willens about the expectations of the Northern Marianas people, Willens was able to persuade the law firm in which he was a partner that the project warranted the firm’s support.

In 1972, he was retained to represent the islands in negotiations with the U.S. concerning the terms that established the NMI as a Commonwealth under U.S. sovereignty, making its people U.S. citizens.

He served as legal counsel to the Northern Marianas Political Status Commission from December 1972 to March 1976. In his capacity, Willens advised the members of the Political Status Commission on various negotiating strategies, alternate solutions, potential strengths and setbacks, as well as the details and intricacies of U.S. laws that might apply to the Northern Marianas.

He aided the commission in concluding the negotiations, to then gain concurrence from the U.S. Congress for the Covenant between the Northern Marianas and the U.S.

Willens also served as the lead counsel in the First Constitutional Convention in 1976, to which he and his law firm assisted members of the convention in evaluating their opinions by developing briefing books.

He portrayed the decision of the members through draft articles. He and his staff formulated the decisions that resulted from the Constitutional Convention into the final record that was subjected to the approval of voters.

He also served as the lead counsel in the Third Constitutional Convention in 1995 through 1996.

Willens continued to serve the CNMI from Washington, D.C. through important assignments throughout numerous years until he spent four years in the Commonwealth serving as a legal advisor to the governor in 2009.

He received the Lifetime Achievement in the Humanities Award for his lasting contributions toward the humanities of the Marianas over numerous years.