LibGuides: Trade Secrets by Timothy McCan: Legislative History

Legislative History

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Great free resource for finding the legislative history of federal legislation. Can search by bill no. or key words.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org,www.familylawfla.org (respectively)

Blacks Law Dictionary (9th Ed.) defines legislative history as "the background and events leading to the enactment of a statute, including hearings, commitee reports, and floor debates." Legislative history is commonly used for statutory interpretation, however the Congressional Research Service points out that researchers might also want to determine the Members involved, the way certian members voted, and how the bill was amended as it went through the legislative process. (Legislative History Research: A Basic Guide, pg 1).

The Florida Senate
The Florida House of Representatives
Legislative History Research: A Basic Guide
Research Guide by the Congressional Research Service focused on legislative history. This resource has links to numerous sites for legislative history.
Compilation of Presidential Documents
"The Compilation of Presidential Documents collection consists of the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents and the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents which are the official publications of materials released by the White House Press Secretary. The Compilation of Presidential Documents is published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)."

Proposed Federal Legislation

There have been bills concerning the protection of Trade Secrets introduced in Congress.

Source: www.senate.gov

In the U.S. Senate, Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) along with his co-sponsors, introduced the 'Protecting American Trade Secrets and Innovation Act of 2012' on July 17, 2012. The bill would ultimately provide Federal jurisdiction for theft of trade secrets. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary where it currently sits(158 Cong Rec S 5084). To read Sen. Kohls statement on introduction please follow this link: 158 Cong Rec S 5086.

Source: en.wikimedia.org

In the U.S. House of Representatives Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced H.R. 2466 cited as the 'Private Right of Action Against Theft of Trade Secrets Act of 2013' on June 20, 2013. The Bill would amend title 18, United States Code to provide for strengthened protections angainst theft of trade secrets, and for other purposes. Just as in S. 3389, H.R. 2466 was reffered to the Committed on the Judiciary where it still resides.