Cornyn Praises House Passage of “Kari’s Law”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn is pleased 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: In a statement, Cornyn commented, “Allowing callers to directly dial 911 from multiline phone systems will save valuable time and could help prevent a tragedy.”

The bill was re-introduced this year by Tyler Congressman Louie Gohmert. Sen. Cornyn has co-sponsored a Senate version of the legislation. It’s named after Kari Hunt, who was killed in her Marshall hotel room in 2013. Hunt’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.