Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain on Saturday threatened to introduce legislation requiring more stringent drug testing if Major League Baseball does not impose tougher rules on steroid use by January.
The Arizona Republican demanded that the baseball league immediately crack down on performance-enhancing drugs after the disclosure this week that San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds unknowingly took substances that may have contained steroids.
"I've warned them a long time ago that we needed to fix this problem," McCain told reporters after traveling with President Bush to the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia.
McCain said it was time baseball players and owners agree to a minimum standard for testing. "If not, clearly we have to act legislatively, which we don't want to do," he said.
Major League Baseball is facing one of the biggest crises in its long history, after Bonds was added this week to the growing list of top athletes linked to the BALCO steroid scandal.
New York Yankees Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield, and former Olympic sprint champion Marion Jones were also among those named in a federal investigation into BALCO, a San Francisco area lab which officially focused on nutritional supplements and blood testing.
"I don't care about Mr. Bonds or Mr. Sheffield or anybody else," McCain said. "What I care about are high school athletes who are tempted to use steroids because they think that's the only way they can make it in the major leagues."
MLB commissioner Bud Selig has vowed to clean up the sport by imposing tighter controls and harsher penalties before the start of spring training.
Under an existing agreement, which runs through 2006, a player who tests positive for the first time must undergo treatment and counseling.
A second offense results in a 15-day suspension without pay or a fine of up to $10,000. The penalties increase to 25 days or a $25,000 fine for a third positive test, 50 days or $50,000 for a fourth and one year or $100,000 for a fifth.
The penalties are less severe than in many other sports, where bans of at least two years are often imposed.
Congress has oversight over baseball due to baseball's unique and long-standing exemption from antitrust laws, which Congress can revoke. The provision protects the league from lawsuits if teams go under, are sold or relocate. <!-- article text ends -->
reuters.com
The Arizona Republican demanded that the baseball league immediately crack down on performance-enhancing drugs after the disclosure this week that San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds unknowingly took substances that may have contained steroids.
"I've warned them a long time ago that we needed to fix this problem," McCain told reporters after traveling with President Bush to the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia.
McCain said it was time baseball players and owners agree to a minimum standard for testing. "If not, clearly we have to act legislatively, which we don't want to do," he said.
Major League Baseball is facing one of the biggest crises in its long history, after Bonds was added this week to the growing list of top athletes linked to the BALCO steroid scandal.
New York Yankees Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield, and former Olympic sprint champion Marion Jones were also among those named in a federal investigation into BALCO, a San Francisco area lab which officially focused on nutritional supplements and blood testing.
"I don't care about Mr. Bonds or Mr. Sheffield or anybody else," McCain said. "What I care about are high school athletes who are tempted to use steroids because they think that's the only way they can make it in the major leagues."
MLB commissioner Bud Selig has vowed to clean up the sport by imposing tighter controls and harsher penalties before the start of spring training.
Under an existing agreement, which runs through 2006, a player who tests positive for the first time must undergo treatment and counseling.
A second offense results in a 15-day suspension without pay or a fine of up to $10,000. The penalties increase to 25 days or a $25,000 fine for a third positive test, 50 days or $50,000 for a fourth and one year or $100,000 for a fifth.
The penalties are less severe than in many other sports, where bans of at least two years are often imposed.
Congress has oversight over baseball due to baseball's unique and long-standing exemption from antitrust laws, which Congress can revoke. The provision protects the league from lawsuits if teams go under, are sold or relocate. <!-- article text ends -->
reuters.com
