Congressman Payne, Jr. Introduces Resolution Designating March 2019 as

National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. (NJ-10) today introduced a House resolution to designate March 2019 as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among men and women combined in the United States. New Jersey’s first African-American Member of Congress, Congressman Donald M. Payne, Sr., passed away from colorectal cancer seven years ago today.

“More than 145,000 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year, and more than 50,000 people will die from the disease,” said Congressman Payne, Jr. “Colorectal cancer is preventable with regular screening and treatable if caught early. Through education, awareness, and health care access, we can reduce the number of people who die from colorectal cancer. My father, Congressman Donald M. Payne, passed away from colorectal cancer seven years ago today. He left a legacy of greatness in the U.S. House of Representatives and around the world. For men of his generation, colorectal cancer screening was not the norm. My resolution will help bring colorectal cancer to the federal conversation and, in the process, increase Americans’ awareness of the preventable disease so that other families do not suffer the untimely loss of a loved one.”

In 2013, Congressman Payne, Jr. led 146 of his House colleagues on a letter to President Obama requesting a proclamation designating March 2014 as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. The president issued the proclamation in 2014—the first colorectal cancer Presidential Proclamation in more than a decade. The proclamation was reissued in 2015 and 2016.

The bipartisan resolution designating March 2019 as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month has 15 cosponsors.