WASHINGTON (AP) _ A key lawmaker said Tuesday that recent court
decisions blocking suspensions of two NFL players threaten to
undermine progress made in reducing performance-enhancing drug use
among athletes at all levels.
"If these rulings prevail, they could wreak havoc with policies
designed to curb performance-enhancing drug use in professional
sports,'' Rep. Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House Energy and
Commerce Committee, said at a subcommittee hearing. "In fact, if the
rulings are taken to their logical conclusion, players on one team
could be allowed to use drugs that would subject players on another
team to suspensions and fines.''
"In short,'' he added, "these new legal interpretations could render
the NFL and Major League Baseball drug testing programs
unenforceable, loophole-ridden, and unacceptably weak and
ineffective.''
Waxman, a California Democrat who has held high-profile hearings on
steroids in sports, said that if the court rulings are not reversed,
"then we need to find out if the collective bargaining process can
solve these problems or whether congressional action is needed.
"One thing is clear: we should not allow the drug policies that the
NFL, Major League Baseball, and other sports leagues have put in
place to be rendered null and void. That is an invitation to steroid
abuse in professional sports. And it will inevitably lead to more
steroid use on high school football fields and baseball diamonds.''
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was to testify later and planned to
ask for legislation.
"We believe that a specific and tailored amendment to the Labor
Management Relations Act is appropriate and necessary to protect
collectively bargained steroid policies from attack under state
law,'' Goodell said in his written testimony.
Recent court decisions "call into question the continued viability
of the steroid policies of the NFL and other national sports
organizations,'' Goodell said.
The NFL had attempted to suspend Minnesota Vikings Pat Williams and
Kevin Williams for four games, but the players sued the league in
state court, arguing the league's testing violated Minnesota laws.
The case was moved to federal court, and the NFL players union filed
a similar lawsuit on behalf of the Williamses and New Orleans Saints
players who were also suspended.
In May, a federal judge dismissed the union's lawsuit and several
claims in the Williamses' case but sent two claims involving
Minnesota workplace laws back to state court. A judge there issued an
injunction prohibiting the NFL from suspending the players and has
scheduled the trial for March 8. In September, a federal appeals
court panel agreed with those decisions, essentially allowing the
Williamses, who are not related, to continue playing while the case
proceeds in state court.
The Vikings players tested positive in 2008 for the diuretic
bumetanide, which is banned by the NFL because it can mask the
presence of steroids. The players acknowledged taking the
over-the-counter weight loss supplement StarCaps, which did not state
on the label that it contained bumetanide. Neither player is accused
of taking steroids.
The court ruling led the NFL to allow New Orleans defensive ends
Charles Grant and Will Smith, who had also been issued four-game
suspensions, to continue playing. Both players also tested positive
for bumetanide.
DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL players union, said
this case differs from others. He said Dr. John Lombardo, who
oversees the league's steroid policy, learned that StarCaps contained
bumetanide but did not inform the players.
"Frankly, the fundamental failure of that doctor to ensure immediate
disclosure of the fact that StarCaps included bumetanide violated his
paramount duty as a doctor _ to protect patients, in this case, our
players,'' Smith said in his prepared testimony. Smith called for
changes to the league-union steroid policy that would mandate the NFL
notify players when it learns that a product contains a banned
substance.
Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball's executive vice president of
labor relations, also discussed a legislative remedy in his
testimony. He said a "narrowly drafted statute could solve the
problem faced by professional sports'' while preserving the role of
collective bargaining in drug programs without interfering with
states' prerogatives.
But Michael Weiner, the union's general counsel, said that
legislation is unnecessary. A bill to pre-empt state law, he argued,
"would stand for the unusual proposition that parties to a collective
bargaining agreement can contract for that which is illegal under
state law.''
