Members of Congress said yesterday that they plan to introduce legislation creating a national steroid policy, a proposal immediately opposed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and players' representatives from football and baseball.
"It is my full intention to move a bill," Rep. Bobby Rush, chairman of an Energy and Commerce subcommittee, said during a hearing that brought together the commissioners of baseball, the NFL, NBA and NHL, as well as NCAA president Myles Brand.
A horse racing official also testified and called for states to bar the use of steroids in thoroughbreds - an action Maryland has studied but not yet taken. "The racing industry is in agreement racehorses should not compete on anabolic steroids," said Alexander Waldrop, president of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, an industry group.
Rush said his aim was a "level national policy" establishing standards to curb the use of performance-enhancing drugs across football, baseball, basketball, hockey and perhaps the NCAA. The sports currently have varying testing protocols and penalties. The Illinois Democrat, who hasn't yet drafted a bill, said the stakes are too high and the problems too entrenched for Congress to ignore.
Rush acknowledged after the hearing that it might take months for the legislation to move through Congress - perhaps until a new presidential administration takes over in January.
The hearing came two weeks after the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard pitcher Roger Clemens deny allegations of steroid use made by his personal trainer. Yesterday, the panel asked the Justice Department to investigate Clemens for perjury. "The committee's decision is unwarranted and not supported by the facts," said Clemens' attorney, Rusty Hardin.
Rush and other lawmakers found support for their sweeping proposal from the testimony of an anti-doping expert who told the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection that U.S. leagues' policies are inadequate.
"While the professional leagues' anti-doping policies have significantly improved over the past several years, they still fail to fully implement all the basic elements of the most effective programs," said Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which monitors drug use in the Olympics.
Olympians who use performance-boosting drugs face a two-year suspension for a first violation and a lifetime ban for a second. American sports leagues are more lenient. Baseball, prodded by Congress the past few years, has adopted the toughest penalties of the four sports represented yesterday. Major leaguers are suspended 50 games for a first steroid offense, are suspended 100 games for a second violation and receive a lifetime ban for a third.
In 2005, the subcommittee held a similar hearing before approving legislation similar to what Rush and others are contemplating. But the bill didn't have enough support to become law.
"Let's get it right this time," Texas Republican Joe Barton said. "Let's go ahead and get something into law that's acceptable."
But NBA commissioner David Stern countered: "The sports leagues have pretty much gotten it right in the intervening three years. So I would say this is an area where federal legislation is not necessary."
The NBA's policy, toughened since 2005, suspends first-time violators 10 games for a first steroid offense, 25 games for a second and one year for a third violation. Few players have been suspended, and Stern said the penalties are "strict enough."
Goodell said in written testimony: "We do not believe that there is a demonstrated need for federal legislation." NFL Players Association chief Gene Upshaw agreed. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig suggested he favored making changes through collective bargaining with players.
But Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn told Stern and the other commissioners, "If you all had gotten it right, we would not be here today."
Rush had wanted to question World Wrestling Entertainment chairman Vince McMahon, who declined because his attorney was unable to attend the hearing. The committee became interested in WWE after the death last year of professional wrestler Chris Benoit, who strangled his wife and 7-year-old son before hanging himself. Steroids were found in Benoit's home, although it is unclear whether they played a role in the slayings.
Kentucky Republican Ed Whitfield said he would not be opposed to legislation to compel states to ban steroids at horse races. "Is it time to call the federal cavalry and send it chasing into your stables with guns blazing to clean up the sport of horse racing?" he asked.
The Maryland Racing Commission says it hopes to have rules in place by next year cracking down on "cheaters" who load up their horses with steroids.
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Stern Urges Congress Not to Pass Testing Law
N.B.A. Commissioner David Stern was not about to back down.
Summoned to Capitol Hill to discuss whether Congress should legislate drug testing in the major professional sports leagues, Stern took exception Wednesday to lawmakers' remarks and stood up for his colleagues from the N.F.L., the N.H.L. and Major League Baseball.
"This is an area where federal legislation is not necessary," Stern told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.
The hearing was upstaged by another panel. The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Roger Clemens lied when he denied using steroids and human growth hormone at a sworn deposition Feb. 5 and at a hearing Feb. 13.
Wednesday's hearing produced the rare appearance of the four commissioners sitting side by side with their sport's union chiefs: Bud Selig sat near Donald Fehr, and Stern was next to Billy Hunter. Then there was the N.F.L.'s Roger Goodell and Gene Upshaw, and the N.H.L.'s Gary Bettman and Paul Kelly.
All tried to convince skeptical lawmakers that their leagues had taken steps to thwart steroid use and were awaiting a dependable way to detect human growth hormone, preferably through a urine test and not a blood test.
"In spite of the fact that they want to pronounce that they have it under control, I still think that it's not fully under control," said the subcommittee's chairman, Representative Bobby Rush, Democrat of Illinois. "And we have to do more."
Baseball had the most to prove, having implemented a stringent steroids policy only in the past few years. The N.F.L. began addressing the problem two decades ago, and the N.B.A. and the N.H.L. said steroid use was virtually nonexistent in their sports.
All four leagues have toughened their drugs policies since 2005, when many of the same witnesses - including Stern - testified before the same subcommittee. Several bills were introduced in the House and the Senate after that session, but none came close to becoming law.
"Let's get it right this time," Representative Joe Barton, Republican of Texas, said. "Let's go ahead and get something into law that is acceptable. It's no fun having this hearing every two to three years."
That was when Stern interrupted, breaching protocol to point out the progress that had been made. "The sports leagues have gotten it right in the intervening three years," he said.
Representative Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, said: "Mr. Stern, I would suggest that we have not gotten it right enough. If we had gotten it right - if you all had gotten it right - we would not be here again today."
Blackburn said the leagues should be doing more to stem substance abuse at the grass-roots level, and her comment to the witnesses that "you all have been very well coached" piqued Stern further.
"Enormous progress has been made," said Stern, who referred to the "voluminous, uncoached record" of material made available to the subcommittee.
The commissioners and the union heads agreed that collective bargaining was the best way to address the drug problem, rather than a law from Congress that would apply to all sports.
Rush disagreed, saying the subcommittee would continue to pursue legislation. But he was not specific. "At the Olympics, they deal with a multitude of sports," Rush said. "And they seem to come up with a pretty good way of looking at the differences but also the similarities."
Selig said he met with Fehr and a group of players to discuss the recommendations of George Mitchell's report. Selig said he hoped the "ongoing" talks produced a more transparent and flexible drug-testing program.
Rush said he was "extremely disappointed" that Vince McMahon, the World Wrestling Entertainment chairman, declined an invitation to testify. "Steroid abuse in professional wrestling is probably worse than in any professional sport or amateur sport," Rush said.
A second panel included officials from the United States Olympic Committee, the United States Anti-Doping Agency, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the N.C.A.A. president Myles Brand.
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