[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 12 (Monday, January 23, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H588-H590]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
KARI'S LAW ACT OF 2017
Mr. LANCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 582) to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require multi-
line telephone systems to have a 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.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 582
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 2017''.
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 New
Jersey (Mr. Lance) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Michael F.
Doyle) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
General Leave
Mr. LANCE. 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 New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. LANCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
At our subcommittee hearing last April, we heard the very moving
testimony of Mr. Hank Hunt. Hank told us the story of how his daughter
Kari was brutally murdered in a Texas motel bathroom in December 2013.
As emotional as his story was, Hank continued with the gut wrenching
details of how Kari's daughter frantically tried and failed to reach
first responders.
The little girl had done as she was always taught, dial 911 for help.
Tragically, as it turns out, that was her mistake. Due to the
configuration of the phone installed in the motel room, she needed to
dial 9 before dialing an outside number. Time after time she tried, but
the call never went through. The first responders who could have
attempted to save Kari's life were not reached in time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this commonsense bill that
has the ability to save lives. Unfortunately, it
[[Page H589]]
cost the life of Kari Hunt before the call for action was recognized.
Multiline telephone systems, like the one in that Texas motel room,
are everywhere. Many businesses, including hotels, offices, and
schools, use MLTS at their facilities across the country. They serve a
very practical purpose and make connecting to other onsite users much
easier. Unfortunately, many of these phones do not preset with the
ability directly to dial 911.
It may be routine for someone who works in an office to know to dial
9 before dialing out, but would the instinct seem so natural during an
emergency? Incidentally, I have telephones in offices here and in
several district locations in New Jersey, and in some of those offices
you dial 9 and in some you don't.
Moreover, our children should not have to be taught that sometimes
they need to dial an extra number. 911 should mean 911. Those three
numbers are one of the earliest things many parents teach their
children. Kari's Law would require multiline telephone systems to be
configured with the ability directly to dial 911 without any additional
prefix.
{time} 1730
The law would also require that multiline phone systems be configured
to notify a central location within the system's facility when someone
initiates a call to 911. This provision will help ensure first
responders have the information needed to better locate and assist the
caller.
There are some businesses, including a number of hotel chains, who
have shown initiative and applied these changes in their facilities
already. I commend them, but there is more work to be done. These
simple fixes should be adopted and implemented nationwide. When dialing
to reach emergency responders, it needs to go through, period.
I thank Hank Hunt, Kari's father, who has been a tireless advocate
for this legislation. He has brought this important issue to our
attention. Kari's Law passed without objection twice last Congress, and
I urge all of my colleagues to support Representative Gohmert's bill
once again. Representative Gohmert has certainly taken the lead on this
across the United States. He is an angel of mercy in this regard. I
hope this legislation becomes law this year and will be signed into law
by our new President because I think it is critical for the safety of
the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
H.R. 582 Kari's Law Act of 2017
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATTON
Multi-Line Telephone Systems (MLTS) serve multiple
telephone users at a single site, often an office building,
hotel, university campus, or similar location. One common
feature of MLTS is the configuration that permits shorter
dialing sequences within the system by requiring a user to
dial a digit or prefix to reach a number outside of the
system--that is, dial ``9'' before reaching an outside line.
Thus, on some MLTS a user may have to dial the prefix when
attempting to make an emergency call. In December 2013, Kari
Hunt was killed by her estranged husband in a motel room in
Texas. Her daughter repeatedly attempted to dial 9-1-1 from
the motel room, but was unable to reach emergency responders
because the motel's MLTS required users to dial ``9'' to
reach an outside line.
Kari's Law seeks to ensure that this situation does not
result in confusion in the heat of an emergency, preventing
others from accessing essential emergency services from an
MLTS phone. While many hotels and office buildings have begun
to make this change to their systems, this bill would make it
a universal requirement. H.R. 582 requires that all MLTS have
a default configuration that allows users to directly dial 9-
1-1, without the need for any additional digit or prefix,
from any phone with dialing facilities. In addition, the
system must also be configured to notify a designated central
point of contact when someone initiates a call to 9-1-1 using
the system. By notifying a central point of contact,
emergency responders are better able to access, locate, and
assist a caller who initiates a 9-1-1 call within the MLTS.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 provides that the Act may be cited as the
``Kari's Law Act of 2017.''
Section 2. Configuration of multi-line telephone systems
for direct dialing of 9-1-1
Section 2(a) adds a new Section 721 to the Communications
Act of 1934, as amended.
New Section 721(a) requires that any person manufacturing,
selling, importing, or leasing multi-line telephone systems
only do so if the system is pre-configured in a way that a
user may directly initiate a call to 9-1-1 without dialing
any additional digits or prefixes. This section applies to
any system that is sold, leased, offered, or imported for use
in the United States after the effective date. This includes
systems that have call control located outside of the U.S.,
but have terminals or end points in the U.S. While systems
are required to be pre-configured with the default dialing
pattern described in this section, it does not preclude the
inclusion of additional optional dialing patterns to reach 9-
1-1 (e.g. (9)9-1-1). However, if the system is configured
with these additional dialing patterns, they must be in
addition to the default pattern.
New Section 721(b) requires that any person who installs,
operates, or manages a MLTS only do so if the system is
configured such that a user may directly initiate a call to
9-1-1 without any additional digit or prefix. This section
also applies to systems installed, managed, or operated for
use in the United States.
New Section 721(c) requires that systems be configured to
provide a notification to either a central location at the
facility where the system is located, or to a contact person
or organization regardless of location. This section is
intended to assist first responders in their emergency
response by providing access and information needed to locate
the caller. This can be particularly important in large
buildings like hotels, hospitals, and schools, where on-site
personnel are uniquely suited to provide information about
the building and its occupants. This provision requires the
system to designate a central point of contact, but allows
the MLTS owner or operator some flexibility in determining
the most appropriate contact, whether in the building or
otherwise.
This subsection only applies to systems where the
configuration is achievable without an improvement to the
hardware or software of the system. The Committee intends
this provision to include upgrades to the core systems of a
MLTS, but not the addition of additional extensions or lines.
The Committee also intends this provision to apply to
substantial upgrades to the software, particularly those
requiring a significant purchase. Minor software upgrades
that are easily achieved or are made to improve the security
of the system would not be considered an ``improvement'' for
the purposes of this section. The legislation seeks to
balance the need for an onsite notification with the goal of
not placing an undue burden on MLTS owners or operators.
New Section 721(d) clarifies that this legislation does not
alter the authority of state or local agencies with
jurisdiction over emergency communications, as long as that
authority isn't exercised in a manner inconsistent with this
legislation.
New Section 721(e) allows for enforcement under Title V of
the Communications Act, but only to the extent that the
section allows for the imposition of a fine.
New Section 721(f) defines multi-line telephone system by
crossreferencing the definition in Section 6502 of the Middle
Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012.
Section 2(b) sets an effective date for the changes at two
years after the date of enactment of the Act.
Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself
such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in general support of H.R. 582. The primary
sponsor is Representative Gohmert.
This is a bill that passed the House last Congress by voice vote.
I agree that we must do all we can to make sure that consumers using
multiline telephone systems can directly dial 911 without having to
dial additional digits first. These are in many large office buildings
and hotels. Many of these systems require consumers to dial an extra 9
before they get a dial tone. You have to hit 9 before you get your dial
tone to get an outside line. Most of us know that, but too many people
do not realize that this applies to 911. If you don't dial 9 first, you
can't reach the 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 taught to do in an emergency. She dialed 911. But
because the system she was using required her to dial a 9 first, she
only heard silence on the other end of the line.
Building on the Herculean effort of Kari Dunn's family, we are one
step closer to fixing this problem once and for all. H.R. 582 is an
important step to making our systems work better in an emergency. But
for all the good this bill does, it still leaves work to be done.
Specifically, these multiline systems still often fail to deliver
accurate location information to first responders. That means that if
somebody called 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 this
[[Page H590]]
enormous complex. That delay could be the difference between life and
death.
We have to correct this problem, too, because making sure the call
goes through is only helpful if the public safety officials can find
the caller. Democrats tried to include such a provision in the version
of this bill from last Congress, and at that time we received a
commitment from Chairman Walden to work together on a separate bill to
address this concern.
We were not able to solve this problem in the last Congress, and we
expect that commitment will carry over to this Congress. I urge Members
to support H.R. 582.
Mr. Speaker, we have no other speakers on this side, so I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. LANCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert), the sponsor of this
legislation.
Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful to Mr. Lance for his
great leadership on this issue. And I appreciate the comments of my
friend across the aisle, Mr. Doyle.
This did pass by voice vote.
One can't help but wonder: How many times has this played out that we
don't know about? How many times has there been a child that tried to
dial 911? How many times has a panicked adult dialed 911 not knowing?
And I was in a hotel the other day where you had to dial 7 to get
out.
How many times has somebody been killed trying to dial 911?
We don't know. There is no way to know. But we do know that this is
the right thing to do. And the only reason this came forward is after
the tragic loss of Kari. Her death occurred over several minutes.
Normally in a town like Marshall, especially in a town like that, the
police are going to be there within a minute or two when something goes
on this long. It was a beating; it was a stabbing; her daughter was
trying to dial.
After Kari had left this world, her daughter was sitting in Hank
Hunt's lap. She was crying saying: I did all I could. I kept dialing
911 and it wouldn't go through.
Hank was torn up about it and got to investigating. That is when this
was brought to light. When Hank brought it to my attention, we got to
investigating. And we do have limits here in Congress. We are not
supposed to go meddling, according to the 10th Amendment, in State and
local affairs; but this is a matter of interstate communications. This
is a matter for the Congress. This goes across State lines constantly.
It is in the public domain across the country. If we don't do it when
it involves interstate commerce, then nobody else has the authority to
go across State lines.
I also thank the FCC Commissioner Pai, who I understand will soon be
the chairman, for all his efforts because he truly participated.
We found out that there is really no cost. If we pass this law such
as it is, then the companies that produce these phones would just set
the default position so that when someone dials 911, it goes straight
to an emergency operator without having to dial a prefix, whether it is
7, 9, 3, whatever. So there is no cost in that. It is just telling them
how to do the default.
What about existing lines?
And then we found from people that have installed these multiphone
lines that, actually, if somebody calls and says, ``Hey, we need to get
our phone system reset so you can dial 911 and it goes straight
through,'' everyone that we have talked to that was in that business
said, ``Oh, we will come make that switch for free.''
So we knew we had a bill here, we had a law--it goes across party
lines, it goes across bicameral lines--we had an opportunity to pass a
bill.
I am grateful to Senator Klobuchar in the Senate and all the
bipartisan support there. As my friend, Mr. Doyle, pointed out, there
is another push. Let's identify exactly where someone is within that
multiline system. That will cost money.
There are some that have said: Look, if there is somebody that is
making a secret call, they don't want the bad guys figuring out where
the call is coming from.
So there are other issues involved here, but we have a bill that will
save lives and it is agreeable across the aisle. It passed this manner
in the past Congress. It will pass this way again today. So I urge not
only our friends here in the House, but also my friends in the Senate,
please pass this bill that we all agree on, save lives, and then let's
have a full and thorough debate on the part that will cost money. We
have some mom and pop hotels that say: If you make us buy a new phone
system, the one we have won't be able to identify which room is making
the call. You make us add to that, we are already in trouble. We are
barely getting by. Please don't add more costs to what we are
struggling to pay as it is.
Let's have that debate in a separate bill. Go in and pass this
noncontroversial one for Kari's sake and for the sake of all of those
that would come into the same situation. Let's just pass this bill.
Kari, as her father and her daughters have said, will then not have
died for nothing. Her loss of life will save lives in the future.
Again, I thank my friend, Mr. Lance. What a great American, the way
he pursues matters of conscience. I appreciate again my friend across
the aisle, Mr. Doyle.
I urge passage of this bill now, today.
Mr. LANCE. Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 582, the
Kari's Law Act of 2017, which amends the Communications Act of 1934 to
require multi-line telephone systems to have a configuration that
permits users to directly initiate a call 9-1-1 without dialing any
additional digit, code, prefix, or post-fix.
As a senior member of the House Committees on Homeland Security and
Judiciary, I am well aware of the importance of 9-1-1 services and some
of the challenges of E-9-1-1 to ensure that those seeking emergency
assistance receive the help they need.
H.R. 582 would create parity for landline ``9-1-1 services'' and
smartphone E-9-1-1 services'' so that emergency assistance request from
either is treated the same.
The bill requires that those engaged in the manufacturing,
importation, sale, and lease of telecommunication service or devices
pre-configured technology to dial 9-1-1.
The goal of H.R. 582 is to ensure that all emergency calls regardless
of the source are routed properly to emergency services.
Kari's Law is not intended to alter the authority of State
commissions or other State or local agencies with jurisdiction over
emergency communications.
The establishment of the Kari's Law Act acknowledges the importance
of the configuration of multi-line telephones systems for direct
dialing for 9-1-1.
Over the past two decades, the personal communications of Americans
have changed.
The Wireless Association reported that the penetration of cellular
devices surpassed 100 percent in 2012, and as of the latest 2014
report, penetration is now at 110 percent.
According to the Pew Research Center, 68 percent of U.S. adults have
a smartphone, up from 35 percent in 2011, and tablet computer ownership
has edged up to 45 percent among adults, according to newly released
survey data from the Pew Research Center.
Smartphone ownership is nearing the saturation point with some
groups: 86 percent of those ages 18 through 29 have a smartphone, as do
83 percent of those ages 30 through 49 and 87 percent of those living
in households earning $75,000 and up annually.
With so many mobile devices deployed the majority of calls to 911
emergency public safety answering points (PSAP) originate from them.
U.S. emergency dispatch agencies report that wireless callers are
responsible for at least 80 percent of their emergency call volume.
For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to Support H.R. 582, Kari's
Law Act of 2017.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Lance) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 582.
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. LANCE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________