We can thank major league basebal for this...Good job guys....Since BBing is not a "SPORT", this owuld not apply, right
WASHINGTON -- Once again, professional sports and their leaders were hauled up to Capitol Hill on Wednesday by lawmakers who say they might try once again to legislate drug-testing policies for U.S. leagues.
Facing a House subcommittee that also held hearings on steroids in 2005, commissioners sat side-by-side with their sport's union chief: Bud Selig was inches away from Donald Fehr; the NBA's David Stern was next to Billy Hunter. Then there was the NFL's Roger Goodell and Gene Upshaw, and the NHL's Gary Bettman and Paul Kelly, who rounded out the day's first set of witnesses.
"Let's get it right this time. ... Let's go ahead and get something into law that is acceptable," Texas Republican Joe Barton said. "It's no fun having this hearing every two to three years."
Barton's response prompted an interruption from Stern, who twice spoke out of turn to defend the progress made -- including more stringent testing across professional sports -- since the 2005 hearing.
"The sports leagues have gotten it right in the intervening three years," said Stern, who added: "This is an area where federal legislation is not necessary."
Shortly afterward, Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn, who had earlier questioned whether Congress should be dealing with weightier issues, said to the NBA commissioner: "Mr. Stern, I would suggest that we have not gotten it right enough. If we had gotten it right -- if you all had gotten it right -- we would not be here again today."
Blackburn said the sports should be doing more to stem substance abuse at the grass roots level, and her comment to the witnesses that "you all have been very well coached" piqued Stern further.
"Enormous progress has been made," responded Stern, who then referred to the "voluminous, uncoached record" of material made available to the subcommittee.
"Things seem to be going in the right direction," Stern said during a break in the hearing. "If you read the statements of the leagues and listened to the testimony, that seems to be the case."
In the early going, Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., reminded everyone: "I am already on the record calling for the resignation of commissioner Selig." Stearns was the chairman of this subcommittee three years ago, when it brought a similar collection of sports officials to testify. Stearns introduced a bill then that fell by the wayside.
