1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protecting and Enhancing Public Access to Codes Act or the Pro Codes Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Congress, the executive branch, and State and local governments have long recognized that the people of the United States benefit greatly from the work of private standards development organizations with expertise in highly specialized areas. (2) The organizations described in paragraph (1) create technical standards and voluntary consensus standards through a process requiring openness, balance, consensus, and due process to ensure all interested parties have an opportunity to participate in standards development. (3) The standards that result from the process described in paragraph (2) are used by private industry, academia, the Federal Government, and State and local governments that incorporate those standards by reference into laws and regulations. (4) The standards described in paragraph (3) further innovation, commerce, and public safety, all without cost to governments or taxpayers because standards development organizations fund the process described in paragraph (2) through the sale and licensing of their standards. (5) Congress and the executive branch have repeatedly declared that, wherever possible, governments should rely on voluntary consensus standards and have set forth policies and procedures by which those standards are incorporated by reference into laws and regulations and that balance the interests of access with protection for copyright. (6) Circular A–119 of the Office of Management and Budget entitled Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities , issued in revised form on January 27, 2016, recognizes the benefits of voluntary consensus standards and incorporation by reference, stating that [i]f a standard is used and published in an agency document, your agency must observe and protect the rights of the copyright holder and meet any other similar