[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 17 (Tuesday, January 30, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H299-H300]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               WALGREENS

  (Ms. PRESSLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
one minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PRESSLEY. Mr. Speaker, Walgreens is planning to close yet another 
pharmacy in the Massachusetts Seventh, this time on Warren Street in 
Roxbury, a community that is 85 percent Black and Latino.
  This closure is a part of a larger trend of abandoning low-income 
communities like the previous closures in Mattapan and Hyde Park, both 
in the Massachusetts Seventh.

[[Page H300]]

  When a Walgreens leaves a neighborhood, they disrupt the entire 
community, and they take with them baby formula, diapers, asthma 
inhalers, lifesaving medications, and, of course, jobs. These closures 
are not arbitrary, and they are not innocent. They are life-threatening 
acts of racial and economic discrimination.
  That is why I joined with Senator Markey and Senator Warren to demand 
answers from Walgreens' CEO. Why was there no community input, no 
adequate notice to customers, and no transition resources to prevent 
gaps in healthcare?
  Shame on you, Walgreens. Having a website with talking points about 
health equity and underserved communities is not enough. Walgreens is a 
multibillion-dollar corporation that needs to put their money where 
their mouth is and stop divesting from Black and Brown communities.

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