Lawmakers to hold hearings in wake of steroids report

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing next week on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and ranking Republican Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) announced their Dec. 18 hearing in a joint statement shortly after the release of former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell’s (D-Maine) long-awaited report.

{mosads}"The Mitchell report is sobering. It shows the use of steroids and human growth hormone has been and is a significant problem in Major League Baseball,” the lawmakers said in their statement. They said Mitchell, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and Major League Players Association president Don Fehr will be invited to testify at the hearing.

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) said his subcommittee will also weigh in on the issue with hearings next year.

“The pattern of behavior documented in [Mitchell’s] report has the effect of undermining Americans’ faith in the honesty, integrity and accuracy of many facets of American sports,” said Rush, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. The committee’s ranking member, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), supported the call for the hearing.

That panel’s hearing is scheduled for Jan. 23, and Mitchell and MLB representatives will be invited to testify.

The 409-page report is the culmination of a 20-month investigation by Mitchell and his staff at DLA Piper, a multinational law firm of which the former senator is chairman. The report names dozens of players as users of performance-enhancing drugs and describes a persuasive drug culture throughout the league.

A number of other lawmakers on Capitol Hill expressed disgust at the report’s findings and threatened action by Congress. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), a member of Waxman’s committee, said players who have received awards and took performance-enhancing drugs should return them to MLB.

“I will be closely monitoring the response to the Mitchell Report, and I am prepared to proceed with a legislative response or recommend future oversight hearings if necessary,” said Cummings.

Presidential hopeful Sen. Joseph Biden said MLB’s “existing drug testing scheme isn’t working.” The Delaware Democrat also called on the Justice Department to investigate the report’s allegations.