Direct dialing for 911service will save lives

Our children are taught from a young age how to call for help: dial 9-1-1, but that doesn’t always work.
In December of 2013, Kari Dunn’s 9-year-old daughter tried to call for help multiple times from a hotel room in Marshall as her mother was attacked. All three of her children, under the age of 11, were just outside the bathroom, while their father brutally stabbed Kari Dunn 21 times
Tragically, Dunn’s young daughter did not know that she had to dial “9” to make a call outside the hotel before dialing 9-1-1. Unfortunately, emergency personnel did not arrive in time to save her life. 
According to the Federal Communications Commissioner, all hotels owned or managed by Carlson, Hyatt, Motel 6, InterContinental, La Quinta, Marriott, Starwood and Wyndham now have direct 911 dialing. 
In addition, at Marriott hotels not only are you directly connected to 911 Emergency Services, but an alarm is generated at the front desk stating which phone dialed 911 and logs it. Marriott also requires the system be randomly tested monthly.
Gov. Gregg Abbott signed Kari’s Law in mid-May of 2015 for the state of Texas and the U.S. Congress passed Kari’s Law in late May of this year.
Cass County legislators Chris Paddie and Kevin Eltife were instrumental in  getting the law passed in Texas.
Total E911 funds collected from the use of telephones in the U. S. $2,322,983,616.36 in 2012. Total amount spent for E911 or 911 enhancements was $97,367,543.46 leaving $2,225,616,072.90 unspent.
The bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require multi-line telephone systems to have a default configuration that allows users to directly initiate a call to 9-1-1 and puts those tax dollars to good use. 
This legislation ensures that dialing 9-1-1 from any phone will connect you directly to emergency personnel. 
We applaud Congress for following Texas’ example. No doubt, this measure will save lives in the future.