Baseball - Congress Supports George Mitchells Inves

The leaders of the a House subcommittee that held hearings on steroid in 2005 have assured their support for George Mitchell through a letter they recently sent him. The Congress is keeping an eye on the progress of Mitchell’s investigation of steroids in baseball and are willing to intervene if he is not accorded cooperation during the process of his investigation.

In the letter to Mitchell, House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection chairman, Bobby Rush, wrote that the committee hopes that all relevant parties in the investigation would work constructively to facilitate the completion of his investigation and his efforts to clean up baseball as a sport.

In April 2005, Republic Cliff Stearns who is also a member of the subcommittee had proposed the Drug Free Sports Act. The act stipulates a two year suspension for the first drug offense followed by a lifetime ban for a second. It also targets the leagues. Leagues that fail to comply with the act would be fined a minimum of $5 million.

However, the lawmakers did not push for the Drug Free Sports Act when baseball took the initiative and introduced more stringent drug rules in November 2005.

On January 18, 2007, Mitchell informed the baseball owners that he would be interviewing active players and there might be a possibility that the Congress would force them to testify if they did not comply with his request. Mitchell does not have the right to force testimony.

In March 2006, commissioner Bud Selig hired George Mitchell nearly a year after allegations of steroid use were brought against several baseball stars, including Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire.