The chairman of a US House subcommittee said on Thursday all major US sports leagues should work toward a single drug-testing plan, and the heads of a congressional committee that subpoenaed stars said baseball players should not be "above the law."
"Our elite athletic organizations, both professional and amateur, should establish uniform, world-class, drug-testing standards that are as consistent and robust as our criminal laws in this area," said Cliff Stearns, chairman of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. "Nothing less should be tolerated."
Labor lawyers from the commissioner's office and the NFL testified before the panel, which also heard from Donald Hooton of Plano, Texas, whose son was a steroid user and committed suicide, and Dr. Ralph Hale, chairman of the US Anti-Doping Agency, which oversees drug testing for Olympic sports.
Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton said this could be the first of a series of hearings on the issue and that at some point subpoenas might be issued for commissioners of the major sports leagues.
"The time has come to put an end to this mess and reclaim sports as competition," he said.
Barton said use of performance-enhancing drugs is tainting sports and its stars, noting that as San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds pursues the career home run record there are questions about whether he has been aided by steroids.
"With Babe Ruth, people didn't worry about him taking steroids. They worried about him eating another hot dog," Barton said.
On Wednesday, the House Government Reform Committee issued subpoenas calling for Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and five other major league baseball stars to testify at a March 17 hearing. The committee also demanded a variety of documents and records of baseball's drug tests.
MLB balked at the subpoenas. Stanley Brand, a lawyer for the commissioner's office, said the committee had no jurisdiction, was trying to violate MLB's first amendment privacy rights, and was attempting to "satisfy their prurient interest into who may and may not have engaged in this activity."
Committee chairman Tom Davis and ranking Democrat Henry Waxman responded on Thursday, sending Brand a letter that stated "your legal analysis is flawed."
"Any failure to comply with the committee's subpoenas would be unwise and irresponsible," the congressmen wrote.
"Major league baseball and professional baseball players should not be above responsible scrutiny," they said. "Baseball and ballplayers do not, by virtue of their celebrity, deserve special treatment or to be placed above the law. ... Any American citizen under these circumstances would be required to comply with the Committee's request. Major League Baseball and baseball players are no different."
The other players subpoenaed to appear next week were Jose Canseco -- who recently published a book outlining allegations of steroid use by McGwire and others -- Jason Giambi, Curt Schilling, Rafael Palmeiro and Frank Thomas. Also called were players' association head Donald Fehr, MLB executive vice presidents Rob Manfred and Sandy Alderson, and San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers.
Retired star Canseco wants immunity if he is to testify fully at the congressional hearing.
"We've asked for immunity," said Canseco's lawyer, Robert Saunooke. "We hope they give it to us. We're still going to show up even if we have no immunity and offer whatever testimony we can that does not expose Jose to legal liability."
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College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
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