IV
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
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.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 22, 2002
Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut (for herself, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. WATTS of
Oklahoma, Mr. KIND, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. CAMP,
Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. HOUGH-
TON, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. CASTLE, and Ms. PRYCE of
Ohio) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce
JULY 22, 2002
Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; which was considered under
suspension of the rules and agreed to
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that
Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball
Players Association should implement a mandatory ster-
oid testing program.
Whereas studies have shown an alarming increase in steroid
use among children, who may be modeling their behavior
after professional athletes;
Whereas one report said that steroid use by high school boys
was as high as 12 percent;
•HRES 496 ATH
Whereas earlier this year, 2 retired Major League Baseball
players, each having been a Most Valuable Player, admit-
ted to steroid use, unleashing a wave of articles about
rampant use throughout the league;
Whereas the stories have focused on the muscle-enhancing as-
pect of steroids, linking it to a surge in power hitting
among many players;
Whereas the Nation’s children are receiving the wrong mes-
sage, namely that drug use is not only permissible, but
desirable if an individual wants to perform at his or her
best;
Whereas the truth is that steroids are dangerous and harmful
to an individual’s health and have no place in our na-
tional pastime or the lives of the Nation’s children;
Whereas other professional sports, notably football, basket-
ball, and even the Olympics, already ban steroids, a dan-
gerous drug that often causes liver damage, kidney fail-
ure, heart disease, and brain tumors;
Whereas although steroid use is illegal without a doctor’s pre-
scription, the failure in Major League Baseball to test for
such use has led to speculation that steroids are widely
abused by many of today’s players;
Whereas professional baseball players have tremendous influ-
ence on children and therefore have an obligation to at-
tempt to be good role models;
Whereas the question of rampant, systemic steroid abuse now
hangs over a game that the people of the United States
love; and
Whereas instituting mandatory steroid testing will send the
right message to the public, namely that Major League
Baseball is serious about banning steroids and will con-
•HRES 496 ATH
tinually work to protect the integrity of the game: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that—
(1) Major League Baseball and the Major
League Baseball Players Association should imple-
ment 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 com-
petitive spirit and one of our most cherished sports.
Æ