Archives need your help, today! Calling SAA members who live in the districts of members of the House Judiciary Committee (**see the full list below; the previous link points to a spreadsheet with information about the district, including links to district maps).
These Representatives will soon consider voting on the Pro Codes Act ("Protecting and Enhancing Public Access to Codes Act", H.R. 4072). Promoted by Standards Development Organizations, the act would amend the Copyright law to effectively move a portion of federal, state, and local laws and regulations from the public domain to private ownership. Standards that people encounter every day, such as the minimum temperature a dishwasher must reach to sanitize dishes, the minimum amount of air an HVAC unit must move in a given space, and much more, would be owned and controlled by private organizations regardless of their incorporation into our public laws.
Archivists have fought for broad public access to public information for years. If you are willing to send your Representative a prepared e-mail to share with them your concern about the Pro Codes Act, please e-mail ArchivesOnTheHill@gmail.com and tell us who your Representative is – If you don't know whether you live in the district, confirm with this US Congress site. But you must act fast. The deadline for action is June 1!
It will take you less than 10 minutes to take a stand for archives and keep public information public. We will provide you with the name and contact information of the staff member who you need to reach out to, as well as the text of an e-mail to use.
Every archivist and archives supporter will add their voice to a growing number of library and public interest advocates sharing the potential long-term harms of the Pro Codes Act should it move forward. If you live in one of the districts listed below, please consider joining in.
Sincerely,
Gina Nichols, Chair, COPP
Phillip Stone, Vice Chair, COPP
William Maher, Co-Chair, IPWG
Eric Harbeson, Co-Chair, IPWG
**Representatives to Contact from the House Judiciary Committee
Moore – AL(01)
Biggs – AZ(05)
McClintock – CA(05)
Lofgren – CA(18)
Lieu – CA(36)
Kamlager-Dove – CA(37)
Correa – CA(46)
Neguse – CO(02)
Moskowitz – FL(23)
McBath – CA(06)
Garcia – IL(04)
Schmidt – KS(02)
Massie – KY(04)
Raskin – MD(08)
Onder – MO(03)
Van Drew – NJ(02)
Goldman – NY(10)
Nadler – NY(12)
Harris – NC(08)
Knott – NC(13)
Scanlon – PA(05)
Cohen – TN(09)
Roy – TX(21)
Nehls – TX(22)
Gill – TX(26)
Crockett – TX(30)
Hunt – TX(38)
Balint – VT
Cline – VA(06)
Baumgartner – WA(05)
Jayapal – WA(07)
Grothman – WI(06)
Tiffany – WI(07)
Hageman – WY