I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3084 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce to issue regulations requiring testing 

for steroids and other performance-enhancing substances for certain 

sports associations engaged in interstate commerce. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 28, 2005 

Mr. STEARNS (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. BASS, Mr. UPTON, Mrs. 

BLACKBURN, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MURPHY, 

and Mr. SHAYS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce to issue regulations 

requiring testing for steroids and other performance-enhancing substances for certain sports associations engaged in interstate commerce. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drug Free Sports 

5 Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 As used in this Act— 

3 (1) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ refers to the Sec4 retary of Commerce; and 

5 (2) the term ‘‘professional sports associations’’ 

6 means Major League Baseball, the National Basket7 ball Association, the National Football League, the 

8 National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, the 

9 Arena Football League, and any other league or as10 sociation that organizes professional athletic com11 petitions as the Secretary may determine. 

12 SEC. 3. RULES REQUIRING MANDATORY TESTING FOR ATH13 LETES. 

14 (a) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 270 days after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 

16 regulations requiring professional sports associations oper17 ating in interstate commerce to adopt and enforce policies 

18 and procedures for testing athletes who participate in their 

19 respective associations for the use of performance-enhanc20 ing substances. Such policies and procedures shall, at min21 imum, include the following: 

22 (1) TIMING AND FREQUENCY OF RANDOM TEST23 ING.—Each athlete shall be tested a minimum of 5 

24 times each year that such athlete is participating in 

25 the activities organized by the professional sports as26 sociation. Tests shall be conducted at random inter-
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1 vals throughout the entire year, during both the sea2 son of play and the off-season, and the athlete shall 

3 not be notified in advance of the test. 

4 (2) APPLICABLE SUBSTANCES.—The Secretary, 

5 in consultation with the Director of the National In6 stitute on Drug Abuse, shall, by rule, prescribe the 

7 substances for which each athlete shall be tested, 

8 which shall include— 

9 (A) substances that— 

10 (i) are determined by the World Anti11 Doping Agency to be prohibited sub12 stances; and 

13 (ii) the Secretary determines to be 

14 performance-enhancing substances for any 

15 particular sport, or substances whose pur16 pose is to conceal the presence of perform17 ance-enhancing substances in the body, 

18 and for which testing is reasonable and 

19 practicable; and 

20 (B) such additional substances that the 

21 Secretary may determine to be performance-en22 hancing substances for any particular sport, or 

23 substances whose purpose is to conceal the 

24 presence of performance-enhancing substances 
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1 in the body, and for which testing is reasonable 

2 and practicable. 

3 (3) THERAPEUTIC AND MEDICAL USE EXEMP4 TIONS.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Di5 rector of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, shall 

6 establish criteria by which professional sports asso7 ciations, after consultation with the athletes who 

8 participate in the activities of such professional 

9 sports association (or the representatives of such 

10 athletes), may provide an athlete with an exemption 

11 for a particular substance, prior to or after any drug 

12 test, if such substance has a legitimate medical or 

13 therapeutic use, and if such use is for a documented 

14 medical condition of such athlete. 

15 (4) METHOD OF TESTING AND ANALYSIS.—The 

16 Secretary, in consultation with the Director of the 

17 National Institute on Drug Abuse, shall establish 

18 criteria whereby tests shall be administered by an 

19 independent party not affiliated with the profes20 sional sports association. 

21 (5) PENALTIES.—Subject to the determination 

22 made pursuant to an appeal as described in para23 graph (6), a positive test shall result in the following 

24 penalties: 

25 (A) SUSPENSION.— 
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1 (i) An athlete who tests positive shall 

2 be suspended from participation in the pro3 fessional sports association for a period not 

less than 1 4 ⁄2 of a season of play, including 

5 suspension from the number of games constituting 1 6 ⁄2 of a season of play. 

7 (ii) An athlete who tests positive, hav8 ing once previously violated the policies 

9 concerning prohibited substances, shall be 

10 suspended from participation in the profes11 sional sports association for a period not 

12 less than an entire season of play, includ13 ing suspension from the number of games 

14 constituting a full season of play. 

15 (iii) An athlete who tests positive, 

16 having twice previously violated the policies 

17 concerning prohibited substances, shall be 

18 permanently suspended from participation 

19 in the professional sports association. 

20 All suspensions shall include loss of pay for the 

21 period of suspension. 

22 (B) DISCLOSURE.—The name of any ath23 lete having a positive test result resulting in 

24 suspension shall be disclosed to the public. 
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1 (C) EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES.—The 

2 Secretary shall establish criteria by which pro3 fessional sports associations may reduce the pe4 riod of suspension for an athlete who has tested 

5 positive for a prohibited substance but who es6 tablishes that he or she bears no fault or neg7 ligence or no significant fault or negligence for 

8 the violation. In establishing such criteria, the 

9 Secretary shall consider the policies and prac10 tices of the World Anti-Doping Agency regard11 ing reduced penalties for exceptional cir12 cumstances. Such criteria shall not require a 

13 professional sports association to adopt a policy 

14 providing for reductions in penalties for any cir15 cumstances. 

16 (6) APPEALS PROCESS.— 

17 (A) HEARING AND FINAL ADJUDICA18 TION.—An athlete who tests positive and is 

19 subject to penalty under paragraph (5) shall be 

20 afforded an opportunity for a prompt hearing 

21 and a right to appeal. Such athlete shall file an 

22 appeal with the professional sports association 

23 within 5 business days after learning of the 

24 positive test. The association shall hold a hear25 ing before an arbiter established under subpara-
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1 graph (B) and such arbiter shall reach a final 

2 adjudication not later than 45 days after receiv3 ing notice of the appeal. The penalties specified 

4 in paragraph (5) shall be stayed pending an ap5 peal and final adjudication. 

6 (B) ARBITER.—The arbiter of the appeals 

7 process described in subparagraph (A) shall be 

8 agreed upon mutually by the professional sports 

9 association and the athletes who participate in 

10 the activities of such professional sports asso11 ciation (or the representatives of such athletes), 

12 and shall be approved by the Secretary, and 

13 such approval shall not be unreasonably with14 held. 

15 (b) CONSULTATION.—In prescribing regulations 

16 under this section, the Secretary may consult with anti17 doping authorities, medical experts, and professional 

18 sports associations. 

19 SEC. 4. NONCOMPLIANCE. 

20 Beginning 1 year after the date on which the final 

21 rules required by section 3 are issued, the Secretary may 

22 fine any professional sports association that fails to adopt 

23 and enforce testing policies and procedures consistent with 

24 such regulations. An initial fine for failing to adopt or en25 force such policies and procedures under this Act shall be 
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1 $5,000,000 and may be increased by the Secretary by 

2 $1,000,000 for each day of noncompliance. The Secretary 

3 may reduce the fines specified in this section upon finding 

4 such fines to be unduly burdensome on a professional 

5 sports association. 

6 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

7 (a) REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF REGULA8 TIONS.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enact9 ment of this Act and every 2 years thereafter, the Sec10 retary shall transmit to the Committee on Energy and 

11 Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Com12 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

13 Senate, a report describing the effectiveness of the regula14 tions prescribed pursuant to this Act, the degree to which 

15 professional sports associations have complied with such 

16 regulations, and any significant examples of noncompli17 ance. 

18 (b) STUDY ON COLLEGE AND SECONDARY SCHOOL

19 TESTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 

20 (1) STUDY.—The Comptroller General shall 

21 conduct a study on the testing policies and practices 

22 (and their implementation) for performance-enhanc23 ing substances for athletes at colleges and secondary 

24 schools. The study shall examine the prohibited sub25 stance policies and testing procedures of— 
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1 (A) intercollegiate athletic associations; 

2 (B) college and university athletic depart3 ments; and 

4 (C) secondary schools and State and re5 gional interscholastic athletic associations. 

6 The study shall also include an analysis of the best 

7 available estimates for both licit and illicit use of an8 abolic steroids and human growth hormones by such 

9 athletes. 

10 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

11 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller Gen12 eral shall transmit a report to the Committee on En13 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

14 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

15 Transportation of the Senate. The report shall as16 sess the adequacy of such testing policies and proce17 dures in detecting and preventing the use of per18 formance-enhancing substances, and shall include 

19 any recommendations to Congress regarding expand20 ing the application of the regulations issued pursu21 ant to this Act to such intercollegiate and inter22 scholastic athletic associations. 

23 SEC. 6. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

24 (a) PRE-EXISTING POLICIES.—Nothing in this Act 

25 shall be construed to prohibit a professional sports asso-
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1 ciation from continuing to enforce policies and procedures 

2 governing the use of performance-enhancing substances 

3 that were in effect on the date of enactment of this Act 

4 until such time as such professional sports associations 

5 adopt policies and procedures consistent with the rules 

6 issued under section 3. 

7 (b) MORE STRINGENT POLICIES.—Nothing in this 

8 Act shall be construed to prohibit a professional sports 

9 association and its athletes (or the representatives of its 

10 athletes) from negotiating and agreeing upon policies and 

11 procedures governing the use and testing of performance12 enhancing substances that are more stringent than those 

13 required by this Act. 

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