Cornyn Praises House Passage of "Kari's Law' to Make Dialing 911 Easier from Multiline Phones

Statement

U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed 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:

"Allowing callers to directly dial 911 from multiline phone systems will save valuable time and could help prevent a tragedy," said Sen. Cornyn. "Today's vote is an important first step to bringing this simple, yet critical, change to the entire nation, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to follow suit."

Sen. Cornyn has cosponsored a Senate version of the legislation, which is named after Kari Hunt, who was tragically killed in her hotel room 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.

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