[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 186 (Monday, November 20, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2225]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPH P. KENNEDY II, NOVEMBER 20, 1995

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                       HON. JOSEPH P. KENNEDY II

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 20, 1995

  Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the 
Mom and Pop Protection Act. The Mom and Pop Protection Act provides 
low-cost loans for the installation of security-related features in a 
convenience store. Under this act, MAPPA money would be made available 
for small businesses to make crime-fighting improvements that may have 
been unaffordable in the past.
  This bill is aimed at helping mom and pop convenience stores create a 
safer workplace for clerks and employees who have all too often been 
the victims of armed robbery and violence.
  We have seen crime against convenience stores rise by 38 percent 
nationally. Too many clerks in our neighborhood convenience stores have 
faced criminals who have threatened their lives at gunpoint. These 
criminals often prey on stores that lack the means to install the 
security devices this legislation makes affordable.
  The act makes the installation of video-surveillance cameras and cash 
lockboxes possible for small businesses who could not otherwise afford 
such equipment.
  This legislation offers the small business owner an opportunity to 
install equipment that has been proven to reduce crime against 
convenience stores. Installation of these features has been shown to 
reduce crime against convenience stores by 20 percent.
  Mr. Speaker, the Mom and Pop Protection Act is a probusiness approach 
to fighting crime. It offers small business owners the opportunity to 
take advantage of crime prevention methods that larger, better financed 
convenience stores already have in place.

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