1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

I am writing as your constituent to express my outrage and concern over Congress allowing the United States to withdraw from the World Health Organization at the very moment young Americans are dying from preventable disease at record rates. Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death among Americans under the age of 50. This is not speculation or partisan rhetoric—it is a documented and accelerating public health crisis. While overall cancer mortality has declined due to advances in screening and treatment, deaths from colon and bowel cancer among younger adults continue to rise sharply. Many of these deaths could have been prevented through earlier detection, better surveillance, and coordinated public health strategies. Instead of strengthening our public health infrastructure and international scientific cooperation, the United States has chosen to abandon the world’s primary global health organization. Leaving the World Health Organization cuts the U.S. off from international cancer surveillance data, coordinated research efforts, early warning systems, and shared best practices for prevention and screening. These are not abstract benefits—they directly inform guidelines that save lives here at home. Colon cancer does not exist in a vacuum. Researchers are actively studying environmental exposures, diet, microbiome changes, infectious contributors, and lifestyle factors that vary across populations and borders. Global collaboration is essential to understanding why younger people are increasingly affected and how to reverse this deadly trend. Walking away from the WHO weakens our ability to respond to exactly this kind of emerging health crisis. Congress has a constitutional duty to protect the general welfare. Allowing the United States to withdraw from international public health cooperation while young Americans are dying in growing numbers is a failure of that duty. This decision prioritizes ideology over evidence and politics over lives. I am asking you plainly: why are you allowing this to happen? What are you doing to reverse course, restore U.S. participation in global health efforts, and address the rising death toll from colorectal cancer among younger Americans? Silence and inaction are not acceptable. I expect you to act, not deflect responsibility to the executive branch or international institutions you have chosen to abandon. Lives are being lost while Congress stands by. I look forward to your response explaining your actions and what concrete steps you will take to protect public health.