[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 132 (Thursday, August 3, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4818-S4819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         KARI'S LAW ACT OF 2017

  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 164, S. 123.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 123) 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.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 123) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                 S. 123

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

       ``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
       ``(1) the term `multi-line telephone system' has the 
     meaning given the term in section 6502 of the Middle Class 
     Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1471); and
       ``(2) the term `public safety answering point' has the 
     meaning given the term in section 222(h).
       ``(b) Multi-Line Telephone System Functionality.--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 the technology of the system has the 
     capabilities described in subsections (c) and (e).
       ``(c) Multi-Line Telephone System Installation.--A person 
     engaged in the business of installing multi-line telephone 
     systems serving locations in the United States may not 
     install such a system in the United States unless, upon 
     installation, the system allows a call that is initiated when 
     a user dials 9-1-1 from any station equipped with dialing 
     facilities to be transmitted to the appropriate public safety 
     answering point--
       ``(1) without requiring the user to dial any additional 
     digit, code, prefix, or post-fix, including any trunk-access 
     code (such as the digit 9); and
       ``(2) regardless of whether the user is required to dial a 
     digit, code, prefix, or post-fix described in paragraph (1) 
     for other calls.
       ``(d) Other 9-1-1 Emergency Dialing Patterns.--Nothing in 
     this section shall prohibit the configuration of a multi-line 
     telephone system so that other 9-1-1 emergency dialing 
     patterns will also initiate a call to a public safety 
     answering point, provided that the dialing pattern 9-1-1 
     remains available to users.
       ``(e) On-Site Notification.--
       ``(1) In general.--A person engaged in the business of 
     installing multi-line telephone systems serving locations in 
     the United States, in installing a system described in 
     paragraph (2) in the United States, shall configure the 
     system so that when a person at the facility where the system 
     is installed initiates a call to 9-1-1 using the system, the 
     system provides a notification to--
       ``(A) a central location at the facility; or
       ``(B) a person or organization with responsibility for 
     safety or security for the location as designated by the 
     manager or operator of the system.
       ``(2) Application.--A system described in this paragraph is 
     a multi-line telephone system that is able to be configured 
     to provide the notification described in paragraph (1) 
     without any improvement to the system.
       ``(f) Regulations.--
       ``(1) Authority.--The Commission may prescribe regulations 
     to carry out this section.
       ``(2) Technologically neutral.--Regulations prescribed 
     under paragraph (1) shall, to the extent practicable, promote 
     the purposes of this section in a technologically neutral 
     manner.
       ``(g) Enforcement.--This section shall be enforced under 
     title V, except that section 501 applies only to the extent 
     that the section provides for the imposition of a fine.
       ``(h) Effect on State Law.--Nothing in this section or in 
     regulations prescribed under this section shall be construed 
     to prevent any State from enforcing any State law that is not 
     inconsistent with this section.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall apply with respect to a multi-line telephone system 
     that is manufactured, imported, offered for first

[[Page S4819]]

     sale or lease, first sold or leased, or installed after the 
     date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 
     Act.

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