Kari’s Law to Make Dialing 911 Easier from Multiline Phones Signed by President
I issued the following statement after the President signed Kari’s Law, a bill that amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require multiline telephone systems, common in hotels and offices, to have the ability to directly dial 911 without locating an outside line first:
The grief and agony this family and their community have undergone is unimaginable. In an emergency, every second counts, and this law will help ensure that no more precious lives are lost in such a senseless way. I thank the President and my colleagues for their support of this life-saving measure.
I am an original co-sponsor of Kari’s Law, named after Kari Hunt, who was tragically killed in her hotel room in Marshall, Texas in 2013. Kari’s daughter was unable to reach emergency personnel because she failed to dial “9” to locate an outside line on the multiline phone in the hotel room before dialing 911. The Texas legislature passed a similar state law that went into effect in 2016.