Politicians Expect Drug Testing Bill to Pass Easily

A powerful group of lawmakers -- saying they were swayed by the testimony of parents whose sons committed suicide after using steroids -- backed legislation Tuesday that would impose strict, government-controlled drug testing on U.S. pro sports leagues, with a two-year ban for first offenders.

“Had the professional leagues taken action, we would not be here today,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), fresh from his successful efforts to avert a filibuster crisis in the Senate over judicial nominations. “Baseball will not be allowed to filibuster this.”

The Clean Sports Act of 2005, put forward by McCain, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) and Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), would mandate Olympic-style testing and penalties on Major League Baseball, the NBA, NHL and NFL. The Drug Free Sports Act of 2005, a rival measure targeting those four leagues plus Major League Soccer and Arena Football, was introduced last month by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), whose committee is expected to take it up today.

Liberals who normally side with unions and conservatives who traditionally hesitate to regulate private behavior predicted that a bill imposing drug testing on athletes will sail through Congress with broad bipartisan support.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) called the steroid scandal “a perfect storm” that had combined parental concern over illegal drugs with growing congressional disgust at millionaire players who get fat contracts for using illegal drugs while “guys on my street in the inner city in Baltimore” get busted for drugs.

Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) challenged sports to respond, or else. “Watch how fast we can move without steroids and amphetamines,” he said. “This thing is greased.”

McCain, saying the Senate does not move as quickly as the House, expressed “confidence” that the bill would get through both chambers this year.

The sentiment for congressional intervention into the affairs of major league sports -- an arena where legislators have until now been reluctant to tread -- began building in March, when a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee held hearings on the issue.

Among the witnesses were retired baseball stars Jose Canseco, whose tell-all book accused colleagues of using drugs, and Mark McGwire, whose home run record has been clouded by accusations of steroid use. Denise and Raymond Garibaldi and Donald Hooton, whose sons had committed suicide after taking steroids, also addressed the panel.

“The most dramatic moment” came in the testimony of the parents whose sons had killed themselves, said Waxman, who spearheaded the March hearings.

“It impressed on me and everyone else that this is a public health issue as much as an issue of restoring credibility to athletics.”

McCain, who said he watched the hearings on C-SPAN, added: “What tipped me was the families, the grief-stricken parents whose children had committed suicide. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.”

The groundswell for congressional action escalated during subsequent hearings this month. First, Major League Baseball’s players’ union said the issue is part of its collective bargaining agreement with management -- not a separate matter that could be quickly resolved.

Then, representatives of the NBA testified that their sport does not have a steroid problem.

Cummings, noting that basketball’s testing is not adequate enough to make that assertion, said he left the May hearings “unconvinced the leagues were ever going to do it.”

At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Tuesday, leaders of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency warned that performance-enhancing drugs are now “seeping down” to middle school children taking steroids and other illegal drugs not to excel in sports but to get buff.

“This junk is stuff that is now seeping down through the professional ranks down into the grade school level,” USADA Chief Executive Terry Madden said. “We, the Congress, USADA, all sporting organizations need to address this as a health issue as well as a competitive issue.”

Quoting a survey that found that 7% of middle school girls are now taking performance-enhancing drugs to get the buff look, Madden added, “The nation is facing not only a crisis in sport but we’re facing a health crisis.”

In addition to flagging the new ways in which illegal drugs are being used by teenagers, anti-doping officials also warned that they will lose the war against increasingly sophisticated designer drugs in sports unless Congress boosts their budget. A Senate Appropriations bill would increase their funding to $11 million in 2010 to avoid falling behind in what McCain called “truly an arms race of doping.”

Don Catlin, professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at UCLA and director of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, outlined the problem.

“Athletes determined to beat the system are still able to keep ahead of the game,” he said. “As the BALCO investigation has brought to light, these athletes and their gurus have sophisticated resources. Anti-doping research does not stand a chance.”

One such athlete, Kelli White, a former U.S. track star, won the 100- and 200-meter sprints at the U.S. Championships in 2003 and at the same events in the World Championships.

A client of BALCO lab founder Victor Conte, who is charged with illegally distributing steroids, White said she passed 17 drug tests before being caught.

Calling it “a choice that I will forever regret,” White said she took the drugs “to level the playing field with my competitors.”

She was stripped of her two gold medals at the World Championships, has received a two-year suspension, and hopes to return to her sport later.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Dueling steroid bills

A comparison of some provisions of two proposed bills in Congress that would enforce Olympic-style penalties for U.S. pro team athletes who test positive for banned substances:

Clean Sports Act; Drug Free Sports Act

Athletes covered; NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL; Same plus Major League Soccer, Arena Football and possibly others

Penalties; Two-year suspension for first offense, lifetime ban for second; Same

Administered by; Office of National Drug Control Policy; Commerce secretary

Frequency of testing ; Minimum three times during season, twice during off-season; Minimum once a year

Disclosure; Violators will be named publicly; Same

Appeal process ; Penalties could be reduced for unknowing or therapeutic use; Establishes a right to appeal

Note: Clean Sports Act of 2005 was proposed Tuesday by U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) and Tom Davis (R-Va). The Drug Free Sports Act of 2005 was offered by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.).

Source: Times research