[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 100 (Monday, July 22, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H5048-H5050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENSE OF THE HOUSE REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF MANDATORY STEROID 
               TESTING PROGRAM FOR MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the resolution (H. Res. 496) expressing the sense of the House of 
Representatives that Major League Baseball and the Major League 
Baseball Players Association should implement a mandatory steroid 
testing program.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 496

       Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that--
       (1) Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball 
     Players Association should implement a mandatory steroid 
     testing program; and
       (2) such a program would send a clear message to our 
     Nation's children that steroids are dangerous, illegal, and 
     morally offensive to our country's competitive spirit and one 
     of our most cherished sports.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).


                             General Leave

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material on the 
resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H. Res. 496 which expresses 
the sense of the House of Representatives that Major League Baseball 
and the Major League Baseball Players Association should implement a 
mandatory steroid testing program.
  Baseball is our national pastime. I am a lifelong fan and proudly 
hang pictures of my beloved Pittsburgh Pirates

[[Page H5049]]

in my office and now have season tickets to Tampa Bay Devil Rays games. 
As a fan, I know that whether professional players like it or not, they 
are heroes to many of our children.
  Recently, many players have made outstanding achievements on the 
baseball field. Unfortunately, this has coincided with disturbing 
reports of widespread steroid abuse. Unless we do something to change 
the culture in major league baseball, children might believe that 
steroid use is not only permissible but also desirable and can help an 
individual perform at a higher level than they could without drugs. In 
fact, some reports already indicate that steroid use is rising in 
children.
  As a baseball fan, I am concerned about the integrity of the game 
that I love. As a grandparent, I am determined to ensure that my 
grandchildren grow up in an environment where dangerous performance-
enhancing drugs are not a part of sports. This resolution, Mr. Speaker, 
is a positive step in that direction. I urge my colleagues to support 
it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  After years of rumors and whispering, numerous current and former 
baseball players have recently alleged that a substantial number of 
major league players are using, or have used, illegal anabolic steroids 
to enhance their performance on the field. Steroids cause long-term 
damage to the heart and liver, can cause strokes in otherwise healthy 
people, and can cause career-ending injuries because a player's muscles 
become too strong for their joints and their ligaments and their 
tendons.
  Recent allegations have placed the number of players using steroids 
at widely varying percentage. One former player alleged 85 percent of 
major league players have taken steroids at some point during their 
careers. But even if the correct number, say, is only 5 percent, it 
would mean that dozens of cheaters are sullying the sport, jeopardizing 
their own health, and putting enormous pressure on other players to use 
performance-enhancing drugs.
  Unlike the use of illegal recreational drugs, the use of steroids can 
actually and obviously make you a better ball player. So if a player 
chooses not to use steroids, not to break the rules, he may be placing 
himself at a competitive disadvantage.

                              {time}  1930

  Technically, there is a commissioner's ban on steroid use. Without 
any form of drug testing, this ban is meaningless.
  In light of the recent allegations, both the union and the owners 
have agreed to make this issue a negotiating point during their 
upcoming labor negotiations. In past negotiations, the players' union 
cited privacy concerns about drug testing. These are legitimate 
concerns, Mr. Speaker, and reasonable people can disagree about how to 
test players for steroid use. However, the other major sports leagues 
in this country have successfully instituted drug testing policies that 
are supported by both the owners and the players.
  While baseball has many big issues on the agenda for its upcoming 
negotiations, the league should also make time to find a mutually 
agreeable way to test its players for steroids. The continuing use of 
these illegal drugs is bad for the players who use them, bad for the 
players who do not use them, and bad for baseball.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson), the sponsor of this legislation.
  Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman very 
much for yielding me time, and I thank him for his efforts in bringing 
this resolution to the floor.
  I rise in strong support of H. Res. 496 and urge its unanimous 
adoption.
  I am not an expert on baseball, though I have played the game 
enthusiastically at many periods in my life. I am not an expert on 
baseball's contract disputes either. If this were merely an issue 
between the players' union and owners, I would not have introduced this 
resolution. But I am an expert on kids, and I know that children look 
for heroes and emulate their heroes.
  Nearly three million children worldwide play Little League baseball, 
and these children look up to the players of the big leagues. Yet 
baseball's failure to test for steroids, coupled with media reports of 
steroid abuse in baseball, tells young people that drug use is not only 
permissible, but desirable. This is exactly the wrong message to be 
sending to our children, but it is getting through.
  Recent studies have shown an alarming increase in steroid use among 
children. One report said steroid use by high school boys was as high 
as 12 percent. I am here today because Major League Baseball needs to 
step up to the plate and put an end to steroid use for the sake of our 
children, if not for the sake of the game.
  Steroids are dangerous drugs with deadly consequences, such as heart 
attack, stroke, and liver cancer. It is dead wrong to send the message 
to our children that steroids can be used safely, when they are 
dangerous to a person's health. It is dead wrong to send the message to 
our kids that it is okay to cheat, and using steroids is cheating at 
sports.
  It is time for our Nation's most popular national pastime to send the 
right message to our Nation's wonderful kids. Instituting mandatory, 
random drug testing, as football and basketball have already done, is 
the only way to signal that steroids have no place in professional 
sports and no place in our kids' lives.
  The Members of the House of Representatives represent more than 250 
million Americans. Passing this resolution will send a wake-up call to 
baseball that they need to clean up their act.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my friend, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Israel).
  Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution urging 
mandatory steroid testing in Major League Baseball. I rise as a Member 
of this body, but, more importantly, as a father and as a huge baseball 
fan, particularly of the New York Mets, which, I will take this 
opportunity to add, play much better in the second half than in the 
first half.
  Mr. Speaker, all around us people are losing faith in their 
politicians, their corporations and their retirements. We cannot let 
them lose faith in America's national pastime, baseball. We cannot 
allow the clouds of doubt and skepticism to hang over every at-bat by 
every 40-home-run hitter.
  Mr. Speaker, I grew up on Long Island worshipping Tom Seaver and 
Jerry Koosman and Tommy Agee and Cleon Jones and Art Shamsky. I 
started, I am very proud to announce, the Ron Swaboda fan club in my 
neighborhood. I was the only member of the Ron Swaboda fan club in my 
neighborhood, but that is what young people are supposed to do. 
Instead, according to one report, 12 percent of high school boys are 
taking steroids.
  Baseball should be a field of dreams, and not a den of drugs. This 
should not be just another collective bargaining issue, because 
baseball is not just another business, like Enron or WorldCom. Baseball 
is special and has a special historic obligation to lead by example, to 
tell people who are young that you do not have to enhance your 
performance by using drugs that are dangerous, illegal and morally 
offensive; that you can excel the good old-fashioned way, with hard 
work.
  The only way that baseball can send a serious message that it will 
not tolerate steroids is to institute mandatory drug testing for 
steroids. I take this position as a Member of Congress, as a father, 
and as a very proud fan of the New York Mets, much to the consternation 
of my constituents on Long Island.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne), our own coach.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H. Res. 496, sponsored by the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson). I really appreciate her 
leadership on this particular issue.
  As other speakers have mentioned, there are a number of former major

[[Page H5050]]

league baseball players who have indicated that steroid abuse is 
widespread. Some have said 50 percent, some 60 percent. I do not know 
what the exact figure is, but the perception is certainly there.
  I guess recent records would lend some credibility to these 
allegations, because in the first 125 years of major league baseball, 
we had two players who hit 60 home runs or more. In the last 4 years, 
we have had three players who have hit over 70 home runs. Home run 
production has skyrocketed. Strength, size, speed has always increased. 
So, again, we do not know the exact figures, we do not know the exact 
facts, but, obviously, there is something going on here that is a 
matter of concern.
  I think the perception of steroid abuse is damaging, because the 
National Football League, as has been pointed out, the National 
Basketball Association, the Olympics and intercollegiate athletics have 
tested for steroids for a number of years. It is hard to understand why 
all of these people would test and be very much against steroids, while 
Major League Baseball seems to turn their head. I cannot really 
understand that.
  I know the intercollegiate athletic scene the best. For an average 
top football player in an intercollegiate athletic institution, you 
will find that the NCAA will test twice a year, the conference will 
come in and test twice a year, and the school will test two to three 
times a year. All of these are random, unannounced tests. When that 
happens, you will find that steroids abuse goes down and practically 
disappears, because, if it is an oil-based steroid, it is detectable 
for up to 12 months, and if it is a water-based steroid, it is 
detectable for 3 to 4 weeks. So with that frequency of testing, it is 
almost impossible to dodge the bullet, to use steroids and get away 
with it. So we think this has worked very well.
  In the late '70s and early '80s occasionally you would hear rumors 
about this guy or that guy using steroids. He would gain weight and get 
stronger. We had the testing capability from the middle '80s on. From 
that time forward, we have seen practically no steroid abuse among NCAA 
athletes, at least in the football arena. Of course, if a person is 
caught using steroids, they are suspended automatically for at least 1 
year.
  There are three damaging issues regarding steroids. As has been 
mentioned earlier, there are severe health implications, heart disease, 
cancer, it caps growth of young people. But an adjunct to this is 
psychological. Steroids greatly increase aggression. There is something 
called ``steroid rage,'' where someone is irrationally angry all of a 
sudden. This is something that can be caused by steroids. Suicide rates 
generally go up with those using steroids, and certain psychotic events 
occasionally occur as well.
  Secondly, as has been mentioned earlier, there is the issue of 
competitive advantage. The thing I would like to mention is if you are 
a player and you are in a league where you think 30, 40, 50, 60 percent 
of your colleagues are using steroids, you may not want to use 
steroids, but you feel you have to use steroids in order to be 
competitive. If you can play in the league 2 more years, that may be 
several million dollars. If you can raise your home run average by 10 a 
year, your batting average by 15 percent, that also translates into 
huge contract increases. So I think we will find it is sort of a 
situation that to be competitive, you have to keep ratcheting up the 
steroid abuse.
  The last thing I would mention, the reason I have really gotten 
behind this resolution is the fact that there is no question that young 
people look up to athletes, and if they see that home run production 
skyrocketing, if they see these guys getting bigger and stronger and 
faster and it seems as though the league is turning their head, we are 
sending a very powerful message to these young people that it is okay 
to do what you can get by with.
  As the gentleman from New York (Mr. Israel) mentioned earlier, we 
really have had a crisis of confidence in so many areas of our society, 
whether it be the clergy, whether it be politics, whether it be 
business, and we really cannot afford to have this crisis of confidence 
spread and affect our young people and particularly the game of Major 
League Baseball, so I urge support of the resolution and want to thank 
the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson) for her work in this 
area.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to 
the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito).
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in favor of House Resolution 496, 
expressing the sense of Congress that Major League Baseball should 
implement a mandatory steroid drug testing program and ban the use of 
the drug from the sport.
  I really do not have much to add from the very compelling speeches 
that we have heard here, but I am a mother of three actual high school 
athletes, and I would like to talk about how I think professional 
ballplayers' use and abuse of steroids has become a children's health 
issue.
  Mr. Speaker, recent studies have shown that steroid use among student 
athletes is on the rise. Some studies have suggested as many as 12 
percent of high school athletes use steroids. I believe that is a 
frightening statistic. Other surveys have indicated that student 
athletes are either unaware or unconvinced of the harmful effect of 
steroid use. Amazingly, among high school seniors, disapproval of 
steroids has dropped from 1997, where 91 percent of high school seniors 
disapproved, to less than 86 percent in the year 2001, while the belief 
that steroids pose a great risk has fallen from 67 percent to 59 
percent in the year 2001.
  These numbers are very troubling. Kids are learning that steroids are 
acceptable and not dangerous, and from who are they learning this? They 
are learning from those whose athletic performance is the highest 
standard, those who are the role models, the professional athlete.
  Either the youth of America is ignorant, or not concerned about the 
side effects that have been mentioned here today, stunted growth, 
infertility, loss of hair, increased risk of stroke, heart disease and 
liver cancer. More than ever, kids are emulating what they see 
professionals doing, and that is using and abusing steroids to enhance 
their athletic performance.
  Mr. Speaker, the fact that our children are copying this destructive 
behavior should be appalling.
  There is no doubt that parents, teachers and coaches need to take a 
tough stance on this issue. All of us have a responsibility for our 
children's health. But it is absolutely crucial that we have the help 
of professional sports players and Major League Baseball to send a 
strong and clear example that steroids have no place in America's 
athletics.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Isakson). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 496.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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