WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A lineup of some of the biggest names in professional, collegiate and high school sports told Congress on Wednesday they share its concerns about illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
By Steve Ginsburg
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A lineup of some of the biggest names in professional, collegiate and high school sports told Congress on Wednesday they share its concerns about illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
At a packed hearing on Capitol Hill, they said they are cracking down on use of steroids, human growth hormones and other substances. But they noted the difficulty and acknowledged the possibility of federal legislation.
"Performance-enhancing drugs are a societal problem," Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig told the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce subcommittee on commerce, trade and consumer protection.
!ADVERTISEMENT!The panel called the hearing in response to a recent report requested by Selig and conducted by former Senate Democratic Leader George Mitchell.
The report cited more than 80 former and current players as having been suspected users of performance-enhancing drugs, and recommended stepped-up, year-round, random testing.
With teenagers emulating multimillionaire sports heroes by using such substances, subjecting themselves to health risks, Congress has prodded pro sports in recent years to do more to curb drug use.
And lawmakers said they are ready to do more themselves.
"If Congress can play a role in shaping public policy to eradicate all sports at every level of these substances, then this subcommittee is prepared to act," said chairman Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat.
Witnesses at the hearing included representatives from baseball, football, hockey, basketball, horse racing, U.S. Olympic Committee, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League, and Gene Upshaw, head of the NFL players' association, submitted a joint statement, saying, "We modestly believe that our organizations have been leaders in the fight against" performance-enhancing drugs.
They added that if the panel should consider a legislative approach, "our organizations are fully prepared to consult with you and your staff on the scope and content" of it.
"If legislation is to be pursued, we believe that it should embrace and not supplant effective collectively-bargained approaches," they added.
The hearing came weeks after baseball pitching great Roger Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, clashed before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee over claims in the Mitchell report that Clemens had used performance enhancing drugs. Clemens denied it. McNamee insisted it he had injected Clemens with such substances.
On Wednesday, the committee asked the Justice Department to investigate if Clemens had lied to Congress.
(Editing by Xavier Briand)
