Congress Presses Selig on Steroids
New Hearing Prompted By George Mitchell Report on Steroids, HGH Use
Jan 16, 2008
The Commissioner of Major League Baseball and the Executive Director of the Players Association both conceded to a Congressional committee on Tuesday that they were slow in dealing with the impact of performance-enhancing drugs on the sport.
"I'll take the responsibility," Bud Selig said during the nearly one hour session in which he and union director Don Fehr, were cross-examined by members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "That's why I wanted this report. There's a reason for that," Selig said, "look at where we were back then and where we are right now."
Mitchell Report Prompted Hearings
The hearing was prompted by the 409-page report issued last month by former senator George Mitchell. In the report, Mitchell described a steroid and human growth hormone “culture” that had been allowed to exist in the sport for more than a decade, and named more than 80 current and former players who had allegedly used performance enhancers.
During the hearing, Committee members pushed Selig and Fehr regarding some of the assertions in the Mitchell Report.
Committee co-chairman Tom Davis asked if the two would commit to an independent administrator to rule over the sport’s drug-testing policy. At present, representatives of management and the union jointly administer the plan.
"We'll take a look at it and get back to you," Fehr responded when asked about the independent administrator.
"It's a fair question," Selig added. "We need to evaluate it."
Concerning allegations in the Mitchell Report that San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Sabean allowed a drug culture to fester in the team's clubhouse, Selig was asked if Sabean should have at least notified the Commissioner's office what was going on.
"Of course," Selig told the Committee.
And asked if there would be any punishment forthcoming, Selig responded, "It's a matter I have under review."
Selig Said He Will Punish Steroid Users
The Commissioner also confirmed that he's considering disciplining some of the players and members of management identified by Mitchell. "We should do the players sooner rather than later," Selig said afterward.
Another matter under review, Selig told the Committee, was a medical exemption, which players can use to legally obtain and use drugs banned under the policy.
When it was pointed out that more than 100 players had used that exemption to obtain drugs to fight Attention Deficit Disorder, Selig said the matter had been brought to his attention in a meeting of head baseball trainers last week.
"Please stay on it and report back to us," said U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, the Committee's other co- chairman.
Congress Announces it Will Investigate Miguel Tejada for Perjury
Waxman also announced that he and the top-ranking Republican, Tom Davis of Virginia, had asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether Miguel Tejada lied to the Committee about his use of performance-enhancing drugs when he was interviewed in 2005. Tejada, then with the Orioles and now with the Astros, denied doing so at the time, but he was identified as having used such drugs in the Mitchell Report.
Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee Will Testify to Senate Next Month
Mitchell also stood behind the statements of Brian McNamee, thee former personal trainer for Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, who told Mitchell and federal investigators that he had injected both pitchers with performance-enhancing drugs.
"We believe that the statements provided to us were truthful," said Mitchell.
Clemens has consistently denied the allegations, and issued another stement yesterday through his lawyer, Rusty Hardin.
"We have had no criticism of the Mitchell Report, only what it contains concerning Roger Clemens," Hardin said. "Senator Mitchell's testimony today shed no new light on this issue. Roger continues to adamantly deny that he ever used steroids or human growth hormone. He will do so again under oath before the House Committee, giving the public the opportunity to judge his credibility."
Clemens will appear before the Reform Committee, along with McNamee, on February 13. Also expected to testify at the hearings are Andy Pettitte and former Yankee Chuck Knoblauch, whom McNamee said he also injected with performance-enhancing drugs. Pettitte has already issued a statement regarding his own use of HGH. Knoblauch told The New York Times last week that he had "nothing to hide."
Kirk Radomski, the former Mets clubhouse employee who was snagged in the same federal investigation, has also been summoned to testify.
During the closing minutes of the meeting, Waxman, praised Mitchell for authoring the report, but said it provided a "dark assessment of that period for baseball."
