All U.S. Sports Could Face Tougher Drug Testing May 23, 2005
News Summary
The chairman of the House Government Reform Committee said at a recent Congressional hearing on steroids that he would propose legislation that would subject players in all major U.S. sports leagues to tougher drug testing, the Associated Press reported May 19.Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) said he plans to join with committee ranking minority member Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to draft the measure. Waxman said the plan is to subject professional athletes to the same type of testing and penalties faced by Olympic athletes, including a two-year ban for a first offense and a lifetime ban for a second offense.
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.)'s Drug Free Sports Act, introduced last month, has identical penalties.
Appearing at the hearing, National Football League (NFL) commissioner Paul Tagliabue said he "would respectfully urge that [Davis' proposal] not be enacted into law in its present form.
"The drug testing program in the NFL is not a 'problem' that needs federal legislation in order to be 'fixed,'" said Tagliabue. National Basketball Association (NBA) commissioner David Stern also appeared before the committee.
Davis said his measure would apply to the NFL, NBA, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball. "Our investigation already has spawned results, evidenced most profoundly by Major League Baseball's abrupt about-face on the need for more stringent testing," Davis said.
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