Subcommittee approves changes for steroid testing

WASHINGTON -- Moving forward on trying to legislate steroid-testing policies for pro sports, a House Commerce and Energy subcommittee approved changes to a proposed bill Wednesday, including calling for two tests instead of one per athlete each year.\nThe Drug Free Sports Act was introduced last month by Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican who chairs the subcommittee. Other tweaks include allowing the Commerce Secretary to tailor the list of banned substances to each sport, and adding the possibility of reduced penalties if an athlete proves he didn't know he was taking an illegal substance.\n"The message our young athletes get today is that the 'Breakfast of Champions' is chock full of juice," said the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, who introduced the amendment with those changes.\nThe legislation aims to set standard drug-testing policies and minimum penalties for Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Soccer and the Arena Football League. Based on the Olympic model, the bill calls for a two-year ban for a first offense and a lifetime ban for a second.\nThose penalties are also in place in the Clean Sports Act, introduced this week by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va. That proposal mandates a minimum of five drug tests each year, three during the season and two in the offseason.\nInstead of the Commerce Secretary, the White House drug czar would oversee steroid-testing in Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA and NHL, with the possibility of adding the NCAA or other leagues.\nDavis is the chairman of the Government Reform Committee, which held three hearings on steroids in sports, with witnesses ranging from Mark McGwire to the parents of a high school athlete who committed suicide after using steroids. That committee will consider changes to its bill Thursday.\nRep. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, offered and then withdrew an amendment to Stearns' bill that would have changed the penalties to a half-season suspension for a first offense, a full-season suspension for a second, and a lifetime ban for a third. A similar change could be reconsidered when the bill is put before the full Commerce and Energy Committee, expected early next month.\n"Markey's idea of 'three strikes and you're out' is a good approach," Stearns said. "We might want to have it vary, depending upon sports."\nRight now, a first failed test draws a 10-day ban in baseball, a five-game ban in the NBA and a four-game ban in the NFL. The NHL doesn't test players for performance-enhancing drugs.