1.This Act may be cited as
the Integrity in Professional Sports
Act
.
2.
(a)Congress finds the following:
(1)The use of
anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing substances by children and
teenagers is a public health problem of national significance.
(2)Experts estimate
that over 500,000 teenagers have used performance-enhancing substances, which
medical experts warn can cause a litany of health problems for individuals who
take those substances, particularly children and teenagers.
(3)The adverse
health effects caused by steroids and other performance-enhancing substances
include—
(A)stunted
growth;
(B)scarring
acne;
(C)hair loss;
(D)dramatic mood
swings;
(E)hormonal and
metabolic imbalances;
(F)liver
damage;
(G)a higher risk of
heart disease and stroke later in life; and
(H)an increased
propensity to demonstrate aggressive behavior, commit suicide, and commit
crimes.
(4)Professional
athletes are role models for young athletes and influence the behavior of
children and teenagers.
(5)Congressional
testimony by parents of minors who used performance-enhancing substances, and
by medical and health experts, indicates that the actual or alleged use of
performance-enhancing substances by professional athletes results in the
increased use of these substances by children and teenagers.
(6)Surveys and
studies suggest a connection between the actual or alleged use of
performance-enhancing substances by professional athletes and the increased use
of these substances by children and teenagers.
(7)The real or
perceived tolerance of performance-enhancing substances by professional
athletes has increased the pressure on children and teenagers to use
performance-enhancing substances in order to advance their athletic careers and
damaged the integrity of professional sports leagues.
(8)The adoption by
professional sports leagues of strong policies to eliminate the use of
performance-enhancing substances would contribute to the reduction in the use
of these substances by children and teenagers.
(9)The
establishment, by Federal law, of minimum drug testing standards for
professional sports would—
(A)ensure the
adoption of strong policies to help eliminate the use and the perceived use of
performance-enhancing substances in professional sports; and
(B)help return
integrity to professional sports.
(10)For several
years, Congress has—
(A)expressed a
strong interest in the problem of the role of performance-enhancing substances
in professional sports and other levels of sports;
(B)regulated the use
of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing substances; and
(C)regulated both
professional and amateur sports.
(11)Recent Federal
laws regulating the use of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing
substances were enacted to reduce the prevalence of these substances in
sports.
(b)The purpose of this Act is to protect the
health and safety of all athletes and promote the integrity of professional
sports by establishing minimum standards for the testing of steroids and other
performance-enhancing substances and methods by professional sports
leagues.
3.It is the sense of
Congress that—
(1)the individual records of professional
athletes achieved as a result of the use of performance-enhancing substances or
methods should be invalidated;
(2)all professional
sports should implement policies and procedures for testing for the use of
prohibited substances and detecting prohibited methods by professional athletes
that ensure that American professional sports are world leaders in the effort
to keep steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs out of sports;
and
(3)each professional sports league should
produce and publicize public service announcements and invest in grassroots
efforts regarding the health and safety consequences of steroids and other
similar performance-enhancing substances on children and teenagers, and
particularly on high school athletes.
4.In this Act:
(1)The
term adjudication means the process of prehearing administration,
hearings, and appeals arising out of an offense (as defined in section
6(b)).
(2)The
term Commission means the Federal Trade Commission.
(3)The term independent entity means—
(A)a not-for-profit
organization—
(i)that conducts
sport drug testing and adjudication;
(ii)that does not
have a single professional sports league as its primary source of revenue;
and
(iii)whose board of
directors and employees are not selected by a professional sports league or any
person affiliated with the professional sports league; or
(B)the United States
Anti-Doping Agency.
(4)The
term off-season for each professional athlete means the period of
time outside the professional sports season for that athlete.
(5)The term professional athlete means an
individual who competes in a professional sports league.
(6)Professional
sports eventThe term professional sports event
means any game or competition conducted in the United States between any teams,
clubs, or organizations of a professional sports league.
(7)Professional
sports leagueThe term professional sports league
means Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, the National Football
League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, or any
successor organization to those organizations.
(8)Professional
sports seasonThe term professional sports season
means, for each professional athlete, the period of time—
(A)beginning on the
date on which the professional athlete is eligible, invited, allowed, or
required to report for practice or preparation to compete in a professional
sports league; and
(B)ending on the
later of—
(i)the
date of the league’s last regularly scheduled game or competition; or
(ii)the date of the
last game or competition of the post-season in which the professional athlete
is eligible, invited, allowed, or required to participate.
(9)The term prohibited method means a method
listed and described in the Protocol (excluding methods prohibited in a
particular sport).
(10)The term prohibited substance means a
substance in such amount as listed and described in the Protocol (excluding
substances prohibited in a particular sport).
(11)The
term Protocol means the United States Anti-Doping Agency Protocol
for Olympic Movement Testing.
5.It is unlawful for
a professional sports league to organize, sponsor, endorse, promote, produce,
or recognize a professional sports event without adopting and enforcing a
testing policy that meets or exceeds the requirements under section 6.
6.
(a)Testing and
adjudication policy requiredEach professional sports league shall adopt
and enforce policies and procedures to—
(1)proscribe the use
of prohibited substances and prohibited methods by each professional athlete
competing in a professional sports event of the league;
(2)test for the use
of prohibited substances and prohibited methods by each professional athlete
competing in a professional sports event of the league; and
(3)proscribe any
employee or contractor of the league, of a team or club of that league, or of
the union representing the professional athletes of that league from complicity
in an offense by a professional athlete competing in a professional sports
event of the league.
(b)
(1)A professional athlete commits an offense of the testing
policy under this section if—
(A)a test reveals
the presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers in the
bodily specimen of a professional athlete that demonstrates the use of a
prohibited substance or a prohibited method;
(B)evidence of the
use of a prohibited substance or prohibited method is discovered;
(C)the professional
athlete refuses or fails to submit to a test without compelling justification,
provided that mere absence of an athlete from the United States shall not
constitute compelling justification; or
(D)the professional
athlete tampers with the testing process.
(2)Other persons
or entitiesAn employee or contractor of a professional sports
league, of a team or club of that league, or of the union representing the
professional athletes of that league commits an offense of the testing policy
under this section if such person or entity—
(A)administers a
prohibited substance or prohibited method to any professional athlete;
or
(B)assists,
encourages, aids, abets, covers up, or commits any other type of complicity
involving an offense by a professional athlete.
(c)
(1)Testing
frequency and notice
(A)Each
professional athlete shall be tested for the use of prohibited substances and
prohibited methods not fewer than 5 times in each calendar year that the
athlete competes in a professional sports league, of which—
(i)at
least 3 tests shall occur during each professional sports season; and
(ii)at
least 2 tests shall occur during the off-season.
(B)Tests conducted under this subsection shall be conducted
throughout the entire calendar year with no advance notice to the professional
athlete.
(2)Administration
and analysis
(A)Methods,
policies, and proceduresSubject to the requirements of this
section, an independent entity shall—
(i)determine the
methods, policies, and procedures of test distribution planning, athlete
selection for testing, collection, and transportation of bodily specimens of
professional athletes necessary to conduct tests for prohibited substances and
prohibited methods; and
(ii)conduct such
test distribution planning, athlete selection for testing, collection, and
transportation.
(B)Each
professional sports league shall, by contract, provide reasonable funding to
the independent entity to conduct and make all decisions regarding testing and
adjudication as required in this Act.
(C)Analysis
of bodily specimens shall be conducted in a laboratory that is—
(i)approved by the
United States Anti-Doping Agency; and
(ii)located within
the United States.
(D)In
accordance with policies and procedures determined by the independent entity
pursuant to subparagraph (A), the laboratory shall promptly notify the relevant
professional sports league of any offense discovered as a result of a test
conducted under this subsection.
(3)
(A)Each professional athlete shall be tested for all
prohibited substances and prohibited methods for which testing is reasonable
and practicable at the time of the administration of each test.
(B)Limited
exemption for medical or therapeutic useA professional sports
league may provide an individual professional athlete with an exemption for a
particular prohibited substance or prohibited method if such substance or
method—
(i)has
a legitimate and documented medical or therapeutic use;
(ii)is
for a documented medical condition of such athlete; and
(iii)is properly
prescribed by a doctor of medicine licensed in the United States or
Canada.
(d)
(1)Subject
to paragraph (2), a person who commits an offense under this section—
(A)shall be
suspended from participation in any professional sports league without pay for
not less than 2 years immediately after the disclosures set forth in paragraph
(3); and
(B)if having
previously committed an offense under this section, shall be immediately
permanently suspended without pay from participation in any professional sports
league.
(2)
(A)A person who is alleged to have committed an offense
shall be—
(i)provided with
prompt notice and a prompt and fair hearing and right to appeal; and
(ii)permitted to
have legal counsel or other representative for the proceedings.
(B)Subject
to the requirements under this section, an independent entity shall determine
the policies and procedures of adjudication.
(C)Not
later than 5 business days after the date on which a professional sports league
receives notice of an offense under this section, a professional sports league
shall provide notice to the person who is alleged to have committed the
offense.
(D)Not
later than 45 days after the date on which a professional sports league
receives notice of an offense under this section, the league shall complete
adjudication proceedings provided for under this paragraph.
(3)Not
later than 5 days after the conclusion of adjudication proceedings under
paragraph (2), a professional sports league shall publicly disclose—
(A)the name of the
offender;
(B)the penalty
imposed;
(C)the prohibited
substance or prohibited method involved; and
(D)the reason for
the penalty.
(e)
(1)Each professional sports league shall—
(A)maintain all
documentation and records pertaining to the policies and procedures required
under this section; and
(B)make such
documentation and records available to the Commission upon request.
(2)Health
information about individual professional athletes provided to the Commission
under this subsection shall not be subject to public disclosure under section
552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of
Information Act).
7.
(a)Unfair or
deceptive acts or practicesExcept as provided in subsection (b),
a violation of section 5 shall be enforced by the Commission as if the
violation were a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et
seq.) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
(b)In addition to the penalties provided under subsection
(a), the Commission may seek a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000,000 for each
day a professional sports league is in violation of this Act.
(c)The Commission may delegate the
administration of this Act or any part of this Act to any appropriate agency of
the United States Government not less than 30 days after providing notification
of such delegation to Congress.
(d)Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to limit the authority of the Commission under any other
provision of law.
8.Promulgation of
standards by United States Boxing CommissionNot later than 12 months after the date of
enactment of this Act or the date that is 12 months after the establishment of
the United States Boxing Commission pursuant to Federal law, whichever is
later, the United States Boxing Commission shall, in consultation with the
Association of Boxing Commissions and the United States Anti-Doping Agency,
promulgate uniform performance-enhancing substance testing standards for
professional boxing that are consistent with section 6.
9.
(a)Non-governmental
entitiesNothing in this Act shall be construed to deem the
United States Anti-Doping Agency, any independent entity, or any professional
sports league an agent of or an actor on behalf of the United States
Government.
(b)Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit a
professional sports league from adopting and enforcing policies and procedures
more stringent than the requirements of this Act.
(c)Nothing
in this Act shall be construed to have any effect on the collective bargaining
obligations of any employer that is not subject to this Act or on any subject
matter that is outside of the scope of this Act.
10.This Act shall take
effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act.
November 4, 2005
Read the second time and placed on the
calendar