[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 81 (Monday, May 23, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H2888-H2890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         KARI'S LAW ACT OF 2016

  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4167) to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require 
multi-line telephone systems to have a default configuration that 
permits users to directly initiate a call to 9-1-1 without dialing any 
additional digit, code, prefix, or post-fix, and for other purposes, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4167

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Kari's Law Act of 2016''.

     SEC. 2. CONFIGURATION OF MULTI-LINE TELEPHONE SYSTEMS FOR 
                   DIRECT DIALING OF 9-1-1.

       (a) In General.--Title VII of the Communications Act of 
     1934 (47 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
     the following:

     ``SEC. 721. CONFIGURATION OF MULTI-LINE TELEPHONE SYSTEMS FOR 
                   DIRECT DIALING OF 9-1-1.

       ``(a) System Manufacture, Importation, Sale, and Lease.--A 
     person engaged in the business of manufacturing, importing, 
     selling, or leasing multi-line telephone systems may not 
     manufacture or import for use in the United States, or sell 
     or lease or offer to sell or lease in the United States, a 
     multi-line telephone system, unless such system is pre-
     configured such that, when properly installed in accordance 
     with subsection (b), a user may directly initiate a call to 
     9-1-1 from any station equipped with dialing facilities, 
     without dialing any additional digit, code, prefix, or post-
     fix, including any trunk-access code such as the digit `9', 
     regardless of whether the user is required to dial such a 
     digit, code, prefix, or post-fix for other calls.
       ``(b) System Installation, Management, and Operation.--A 
     person engaged in the business of installing, managing, or 
     operating multi-line telephone systems may not install, 
     manage, or operate for use in the United States such a 
     system, unless such system is configured such that a user may 
     directly initiate a call to 9-1-1 from any station equipped 
     with dialing facilities, without dialing any additional 
     digit, code, prefix, or post-fix, including any trunk-access 
     code such as the digit `9', regardless of whether the user is 
     required to dial such a digit, code, prefix, or post-fix for 
     other calls.
       ``(c) On-site Notification.--A person engaged in the 
     business of installing, managing, or operating multi-line 
     telephone systems shall, in installing, managing, or 
     operating such a system for use in the United States, 
     configure the system to provide a notification to a central 
     location at the facility where the system is installed or to 
     another person or organization regardless of location, if the 
     system is able to be configured to provide the notification 
     without an improvement to the hardware or software of the 
     system.
       ``(d) Effect on State Law.--Nothing in this section is 
     intended to alter the authority of State commissions or other 
     State or local agencies with jurisdiction over emergency 
     communications, if the exercise of such authority is not 
     inconsistent with this Act.
       ``(e) Enforcement.--This section shall be enforced under 
     title V, except that section 501 applies only to the extent 
     that such section provides for the punishment of a fine.
       ``(f) Multi-line Telephone System Defined.--In this 
     section, the term `multi-line telephone system' has the 
     meaning given such term in section 6502 of the Middle Class 
     Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1471).''.
       (b) Effective Date.--
       (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
     section 721 of the Communications Act of 1934, as added by 
     subsection (a) of this section, shall apply beginning on the 
     date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 
     Act.
       (2) Exception.--Subsection (b) or (c) of such section 721 
     shall not apply to a multi-line telephone system that was 
     installed before the date that is 2 years after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act if such system is not able to be 
     configured to meet the requirement of such subsection (b) or 
     (c), respectively, without an improvement to the hardware or 
     software of the system.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Walden) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oregon.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oregon?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4167, the Kari's Law Act of 
2016.
  Mr. Speaker, when I first heard of the tragic story of Kari Hunt, I 
was in disbelief. In his testimony before the Subcommittee on 
Communications and Technology, Kari's father, Hank, shared with us the 
way that his daughter was killed--stabbed by her estranged husband in a 
Texas hotel room while their children were in the room.
  While that story is obviously horrifying enough, especially as a 
parent, my true shock came from the next part of the story. Kari's 9-
year-old daughter, doing as she had been taught from an early age, had 
repeatedly tried to dial 911 from the hotel phone to get emergency 
help. Repeatedly her little fingers pushed the buttons 9-1-1, but 
because the phone required another 9 to get an outside line, she was 
never able to reach the emergency assistance her mother so desperately 
needed and she so desperately tried to access.
  What her grandfather, Hank Hunt, told me next will stay with me 
forever. He said that as he sat with his granddaughter in the lobby of 
the police department just hours after the death of his daughter, his 
granddaughter looked at him and said: ``I tried 4 times, Papa, but it 
didn't work.'' ``I tried 4 times, Papa, but it didn't work.''
  Through this tragedy we learned the difficult truth that many 
multiline telephone systems, like the kinds often found in hotels and 
offices and universities, require that users dial an additional digit 
to use an outside line, even when they are trying to call 911.
  Mr. Speaker, this is simply unacceptable. In the heat of an 
emergency, every person in America deserves the peace of mind to know 
that on any phone 911 actually means 911, period.
  We teach our children from a very young age what to do in an 
emergency: dial 911. We all hope that they will never need to use that 
knowledge, but we want them to know what to do. I don't know too many 
parents who also teach their kids to think about dialing 9 or 8 or some 
other number to get an outside line.
  H.R. 4167, known as Kari's Law, seeks to remedy this problem. The 
legislation requires multiline telephone systems to be configured so 
that dialing 911 directly connects to public safety. In addition, the 
law requires that a central point of contact for each system be 
notified when someone calls for emergency assistance, a provision 
intended to help emergency responders access buildings and actually 
locate the emergency caller.
  Now, these fixes are simple changes to the system in most cases, 
costing little, if any, money, and taking very little time, but 
apparently without a legal requirement, there is no way to guarantee 
that every MLTS will be configured for dialing 911 directly. Some 
businesses, including many hotels, have taken steps to fix this problem 
already, and I applaud them for doing so voluntarily, but there needs 
to be consistency across our great land, Mr. Speaker. If you are a 
traveler staying in a hotel, you shouldn't have to wonder during an 
emergency whether you are in one of the States or counties that have 
adopted Kari's Law when the time comes for emergency help. We need a 
Federal law to provide certainty

[[Page H2889]]

and protect emergency callers when they dial 911.
  I would like to thank Representative Louie Gohmert from Texas. Mr. 
Gohmert brought this issue to our attention. He is the sponsor of 
Kari's Law, and his staff has done a terrific job working with us on 
this legislation.
  I would also like to thank my colleague, Ranking Member Eshoo, and 
her staff for working closely with us to make this bill an even better 
one.
  Reflecting the way that these systems work and making sure the 
requirements are strong and effective, I would also like to thank Hank 
Hunt for bringing this issue to our attention, for pushing for change 
in the face of his family's tragedy, and for coming to Washington, 
D.C., to share his story.
  I will finish my remarks with something else that Hank said before 
our subcommittee: ``The inspiration for Kari's Law was a 9-year-old 
little girl that depended on her instruction from adults on how to 
handle an emergency, and those adults let her down.''
  Mr. Speaker, let's not let her down or any other child again. I urge 
my colleagues to support Kari's Law, and in doing so, we can take one 
step forward in ensuring that anyone, regardless of their age, who 
dials 911 will receive the emergency assistance they need.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in general support of H.R. 4167. I agree that it is important 
to make sure that consumers using multiline telephone systems, or 
MLTSs, can directly dial 911 without having to dial additional digits 
first. We are talking about the multiline phone systems that we use in 
large office buildings and hotels. Many of these systems require 
consumers to dial an extra 9 to get an outside line. Most of us know 
that, but too many people do not realize this applies to 911 also. If 
you don't dial 9 first, you can't reach emergency services.
  Such a requirement led to a tragedy in Texas several years ago. Kari 
Dunn was killed while her 9-year-old daughter tried to call for help. 
She did what she was told to do in an emergency--dial 911--but because 
the system she was using required her to dial 9 first, she only heard 
silence at the other end.

  Building on the Herculean effort of Kari Dunn's family, we are one 
step closer to fixing this problem once and for all. Kari's Law is an 
important step to making our systems work better in an emergency, but 
we should not delay taking the next step, and that is providing 
location information to first responders.
  These multiline systems often fail to deliver precise location 
information. That means that if someone calls 911 from this very 
building, for instance, precious minutes would tick by as emergency 
personnel struggle to figure out where the call came from in the 
Capitol. We should act immediately to correct this problem, too, 
because making sure the call goes through is only helpful if public 
safety officials can find the caller.
  Mr. Speaker, that is why Democrats had hoped to include such a 
provision in H.R. 4167 during markup. We are encouraged by the 
commitment we received from Subcommittee Chairman Walden to work 
together on a separate bill to address this concern. We hope to get 
this done soon. With that commitment, I urge Members to support H.R. 
4167.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert), who has been such an advocate for 
this family and for this change in law and has been terrific to work 
with on this matter.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Greg Walden and also his 
staff. They have been superb to work with, and it has been refreshing 
to see how thorough both he and his staff have been in researching this 
issue. I came prepared to talk about the event and actually how it 
happened, but Chairman Walden did such a fantastic job that the emotion 
runs high at this point, and I am very grateful for the manner in which 
this has been presented.
  I also want to thank FCC Commissioner Pai, who in the early days 
stepped up and made this an issue to get people's attention, but no 
greater thanks goes to anyone than to Kari's father, Hank Hunt.
  It was December of 2013 in Marshall, Texas, which is normally known 
for being a kind and helpful city. Police respond often in 1 or 2 
minutes. Kari's 9-year-old daughter has not had her name mentioned 
anywhere, to my knowledge, and that is because this child did 
everything she could possibly do, everything she had been taught and 
trained to do. What a phenomenal, quick-thinking child that she is.
  After Kari's death received an outpouring of comments from 
constituents and other Americans across the country expressing concern 
over the issue, every day this is an issue. Fortunately, every day 
someone does not pay the ultimate consequence of dying because it is an 
issue.
  When we looked into this matter, multiline telephone systems can 
easily be configured or reconfigured to enable callers to reach 
emergency personnel by dialing 911 without having to dial a prefix at 
all. Most of the time these changes can be made at no cost, and we have 
had programmers inform us that they have been doing it at no charge 
once the issue was brought to their attention.
  Some MLTS vendors have offered to upgrade or tune up their existing 
systems for free also. Additionally, the American Hotel & Lodging 
Association has worked aggressively with its members across the country 
to swiftly ensure that their systems in place allow guests to directly 
dial 911 from guest rooms. Most of the American Hotel & Lodging 
Association's largest hotel member chains have activated 911 direct 
dial access at nearly all of their owned and managed properties. This 
bill gives 2 years for those who have not done so. And in view of the 
fact that this is so widely public, I anticipate people will move much, 
much more quickly than 2 years.
  It is quite refreshing when both sides of the aisle can come together 
on an issue that saves lives, does not cost anything from taxpayers, is 
not a mandate that needs funding, and clearly involves interstate 
commerce and the telecommunications industry. So anyone who dials 911 
would reach emergency personnel even if the phone normally requires the 
user to dial a prefix. Many phones in hotels, offices, even schools 
don't reach emergency personnel when a user dials 911 in a time of need 
because the person failed to dial a prefix. This bill changes that for 
good.
  I join Hank Hunt, and I thank full committee Ranking Member Pallone, 
Ms. Eshoo, and, again, Chairman Walden, Chairman Upton, and the staffs 
for the great work done here. We can avoid tragedy again, and it is 
just refreshing when we work together to make sure that happens.

                              {time}  1445

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 4167, Kari's 
Law, and, again, thank my colleague from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) for his 
leadership on this issue and my colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle for working with us on this.
  I would encourage passage of the legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 4167, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

[[Page H2890]]

  

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