Support legislation to ensure Americans can access laws and standards incorporated by reference while preserving appropriate copyright protections for standards-developing organizations.

Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. · Georgia · Democratic

policy impact 2.00 specificity 1.00 extraction confidence 95%

Commitment kind: unknown. Promised action: not established. Promised outcome: not established. Deadline: unknown; not assumed expired.

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Occurrences

Once the code is law, it seems only reasonable that Americans should be able to figure out what the law says. On the other hand, SDOs fund their work, which we rely on to keep us safe, through sale of their copyrighted works, and we also have an interest in ensuring these codes always reflect the highest possible standards. ... So, if we want to ensure that SDOs retain their copyright, legislation is likely necessary. The question is, what kind of legislation?

Johnson says legislation is likely needed to balance public access to incorporated codes with preserving SDO copyright protections.

Subcommittee Ranking Member Johnson’s Opening Statement at Hearing Highlighting Need to Balance Copyright Protections with Public Access | Congressman Hank Johnson
primary · speech · model gpt-5.4-mini

Evidence

legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown

The Clerk recorded Roll Call 357 on H.R. 1631, the Pro Codes Act. The motion failed, 248 yeas to 127 nays; Johnson (GA) voted Yea.

Unverified model/legacy excerpt; not proof. AI summary (separate from source): Johnson took a concrete official action supporting the Pro Codes Act, legislation matching the commitment's balance of public access to incorporated standards and copyright protection. The vote failed under the two-thirds suspension threshold, so it shows serious effort but not enactment.

delivered unknown A for effort

Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives - Roll Call 357, H.R. 1631, Pro Codes Act
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 94%

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legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown

Johnson said Americans have a reasonable interest in access to governing laws, that legislation is likely necessary to retain SDO copyright, and that he voted for the Pro Codes Act last Congress.

Unverified model/legacy excerpt; not proof. AI summary (separate from source): In the 119th Congress, Johnson publicly reiterated the policy rationale and his prior vote, while participating as ranking member in a hearing on codes development and public access. This supports continued legislative backing, though not final policy enactment.

delivered same_term A for effort

Subcommittee Ranking Member Johnson’s Opening Statement at Hearing Highlighting Need to Balance Copyright Protections with Public Access | Congressman Hank Johnson
primary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 90%

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Assessments

Public state: unverified As of unknown · legacy_unverified · . Original AI recommendation (not independently established): delivered. same_term

The promise was framed as supporting legislation, not guaranteeing enactment. Johnson took concrete federal legislative action by voting Yea on H.R. 1631, the Pro Codes Act, which matched the pledge by combining free public online access to incorporated standards with continued copyright protection for standards-developing organizations. He also continued to advance the issue in the 119th Congress as ranking member through an April 21, 2026 hearing statement. The bill has not become law, but enactment was not the stated promise, so his support counts as delivered.

provider codex_cli · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 88%