As a House subcommittee called Thursday for the implementation of a single drug policy for all U.S. professional and amateur sports, the House Government Reform Committee claimed it had the jurisdiction to investigate Major League Baseball's steroid policies in a March 17 hearing, for which it has subpoenaed 11 baseball executives and current and former players.
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, said drug programs and testing for all sports should be "as consistent and robust as our criminal laws in this area. Nothing less should be tolerated."
A Major League Baseball official said Thursday that baseball would support such a nationwide program.
The Government Reform Committee also released correspondence addressed to baseball lawyer Stanley Brand, answering Brand's claim that the committee lacked the authority to conduct its investigation. Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.) and ranking member Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) have also subpoenaed many of baseball's records on steroids.
The letter quotes House rules, in which, "The Committee on Government Reform may at any time conduct investigations of any matter," and asserts, "the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs under the Federal Controlled Substances Act is a 'matter' within the oversight jurisdiction" of Congress and the committee.
It also cites three articles written in the last decade -- by the Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated and the New York Times -- that told of steroid use in baseball, and concluded, according to the committee's letter, "that [baseball] management was aware of the problem but did not intervene or investigate."
Baseball officials and lawyers have argued that the hearing is without merit and infringes on the privacy rights of the players and the collective bargaining agreement, particularly given recent program results that showed fewer than 2% of major leaguers had tested positive for steroids in 2004.
The committee answered Thursday that baseball and its players "should not be above responsible scrutiny.... We believe that [they] should not be singled out for unfair or punitive treatment.
"But at the same time, baseball and ballplayers do not, by virtue of their celebrity, deserve special treatment or to be placed above the law."
