AP NewsBreak: Congress to look into Vikings case
By FREDERIC J. FROMMER (AP) – 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON — The House Energy and Commerce Committee plans to conduct a hearing next month on the case of two professional football players whose suspensions were blocked by a federal appeals court.
Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is concerned that the legal issues raised in the case "could result in weaker performance-enhancing drugs policies for professional sports," the committee said in a statement issued to The Associated Press Thursday.
The committee provided the statement after the AP reported the hearing, citing two people with knowledge of the committee plans. The two spoke on the condition of anonymity because the hearing had not yet been announced.
The NFL had attempted to suspend Minnesota Vikings Pat Williams and Kevin Williams four games each for violating the league's anti-doping policy.
But the players sued, arguing that the NFL's testing violated state workplace laws. A federal judge issued an injunction blocking the order, which was upheld last month by a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The decision troubled the NFL and professional sports leagues, which expressed concern about players being subjected to different standards depending on their state. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said after the ruling that the NFL was considering its next step, which could include an appeal, a trial in state court, or taking the issue to Congress. Subsequently, the league was granted more time to file documents asking the court to reconsider the suspensions.
The league wants to suspend the Williamses, who are not related, for testing positive for a banned substance during training camp in 2008. They acknowledge taking the over-the-counter weight loss supplement StarCaps, which did not state on the label that it contained the diuretic bumetanide. The diuretic is banned by the NFL because it can mask the presence of steroids; the players are not accused of taking steroids.
The court ruling led to the NFL's decision to allow New Orleans defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith, who had also been issued four-game suspensions, to continue playing. Both Saints players tested positive after using StarCaps.
The league argued it should be allowed to enforce its drug policy because it was a product of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement with the players union. The agreement is governed by federal labor law, which they argued pre-empted state law.
The state law in Minnesota mandates that an employer give an employee who tests positive for drug use the right to explain the positive test.
Neither the NFL nor the union had any immediate comment on the hearing.
Waxman long has had an interest in performance-enhancing drugs in professional sports. As ranking Democrat and then chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, he was involved in hearings on steroid use in Major League Baseball.
Over in the Senate, Pennsylvania Democrat Arlen Specter, who held a hearing last week on steroids in dietary supplements, recently told the AP he was looking into possible legislation so that federal law would govern in cases like the Vikings one.
"The NFL has a rule, and professional football teams play in many, many states," he said. "I don't think there ought to be a deviation as to how you how you treat players depending on whether they're in Minnesota or Pennsylvania."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iLxm5_WszKhAh4OdtgK2bT7gw3tQD9B752J00
Lets see, with all the problems facing the us, this is what those asswipes are worried about.
By FREDERIC J. FROMMER (AP) – 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON — The House Energy and Commerce Committee plans to conduct a hearing next month on the case of two professional football players whose suspensions were blocked by a federal appeals court.
Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is concerned that the legal issues raised in the case "could result in weaker performance-enhancing drugs policies for professional sports," the committee said in a statement issued to The Associated Press Thursday.
The committee provided the statement after the AP reported the hearing, citing two people with knowledge of the committee plans. The two spoke on the condition of anonymity because the hearing had not yet been announced.
The NFL had attempted to suspend Minnesota Vikings Pat Williams and Kevin Williams four games each for violating the league's anti-doping policy.
But the players sued, arguing that the NFL's testing violated state workplace laws. A federal judge issued an injunction blocking the order, which was upheld last month by a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The decision troubled the NFL and professional sports leagues, which expressed concern about players being subjected to different standards depending on their state. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said after the ruling that the NFL was considering its next step, which could include an appeal, a trial in state court, or taking the issue to Congress. Subsequently, the league was granted more time to file documents asking the court to reconsider the suspensions.
The league wants to suspend the Williamses, who are not related, for testing positive for a banned substance during training camp in 2008. They acknowledge taking the over-the-counter weight loss supplement StarCaps, which did not state on the label that it contained the diuretic bumetanide. The diuretic is banned by the NFL because it can mask the presence of steroids; the players are not accused of taking steroids.
The court ruling led to the NFL's decision to allow New Orleans defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith, who had also been issued four-game suspensions, to continue playing. Both Saints players tested positive after using StarCaps.
The league argued it should be allowed to enforce its drug policy because it was a product of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement with the players union. The agreement is governed by federal labor law, which they argued pre-empted state law.
The state law in Minnesota mandates that an employer give an employee who tests positive for drug use the right to explain the positive test.
Neither the NFL nor the union had any immediate comment on the hearing.
Waxman long has had an interest in performance-enhancing drugs in professional sports. As ranking Democrat and then chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, he was involved in hearings on steroid use in Major League Baseball.
Over in the Senate, Pennsylvania Democrat Arlen Specter, who held a hearing last week on steroids in dietary supplements, recently told the AP he was looking into possible legislation so that federal law would govern in cases like the Vikings one.
"The NFL has a rule, and professional football teams play in many, many states," he said. "I don't think there ought to be a deviation as to how you how you treat players depending on whether they're in Minnesota or Pennsylvania."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iLxm5_WszKhAh4OdtgK2bT7gw3tQD9B752J00
Lets see, with all the problems facing the us, this is what those asswipes are worried about.
