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CNN Live Today

Congress Examines Steroid Use in Baseball

Aired June 18, 2002 - 12:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: With a possible strike looming, Major League Baseball has enough problems right now. Now comes the charges of rampant use of steroids.

Well, today the matter is being examined by Congress.

And CNN's Josie Karp joins us now with more on that -- Josie.

JOSIE KARP, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, Senator John McCain from Arizona was pretty honest today when he was speaking during that subcommittee hearing on the role of steroids in sports.

He said he is not sure there is any legislation that lawmakers can enact that would limit steroids in baseball. But just by holding a hearing that lasted about two hours, the lawmakers who were present appeared to have a point that they wanted to make to the executives for Major League Baseball and from the Players Association that were in attendance. And that point was: Start testing.

In a recent "Sports Illustrated" article, former National League MVP Ken Caminiti came out and said that when he won that award in 1996, he used steroids. He also said he used steroids throughout his career. He went on to estimate that as many as 50 percent of Major League Baseball players currently use steroids.

Now, that percentage has been a matter of debate among current baseball players. But the point that McCain and other lawmakers present seemed to make today was, it is a problem in baseball because it is a problem now when young people look at the Major League Baseball players, and the fact that what baseball players do influences young people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I'm concerned about baseball. I'm concerned about possibility of a looming strike. I'm concerned about the health of the baseball players themselves. But I'm more concerned about the effect this recent spate of publicity has on young athletes all over America.

DONALD FEHR, PRESIDENT, PLAYERS UNION: And, with all due respect, I don't think the problems that are being described now are going to be solved based upon whether or not baseball gets a collective bargaining agreement. That's a problem we will have to deal with on our own for baseball. But the problems are rather more widespread than that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARP: There were six witnesses present at this subcommittee hearing today. But two gathered most of the attention. One was a representative from Major League Baseball and the Commissioner's Office. And the other one was Donald Fehr, who is the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

We mentioned the fact that a strike is possibly looming. And that's because they are currently working, trying to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement. And some of the pointed questions directed at Fehr today were whether or not he can make any assurances that a new collective bargaining agreement will include a steroid- testing policy, because currently, there is a proposal from the owners that would test for steroids.

Fehr stopped way short of assuring anyone that the new proposal, that the new collective bargaining agreement would include a steroid- testing policy. But the only assurance he would make was that, when he goes to talk to players over the next couple weeks, he will definitely make it clear that he has seen a heightened level of interest, especially from lawmakers -- Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: Josie, NBA, NFL, they test for steroids. Why not baseball?

KARP: Well, it's a complicated issue.

The Major League Baseball Players Association is probably not only the most powerful union in sports, but maybe one of the most powerful unions in the entire country. And to this point, there have been so many other issues that have been important to both sides in the collective bargaining process, it has never actually been ratified.

However, because so much attention has been now focused on this issue, there's a good chance that the next time it comes up -- the talks are going on right now -- that it will be included. The other thing to look at is the fact that money is always the bottom line for both sides. And owners have said that they think that, because of steroid use, players are getting hurt more than they were used to in the past.

That means they are paying players to not play because they are on the disabled list. So, again, things often come down to money. And maybe this time, money will be the issue that actually gets the drug testing passed.

PHILLIPS: Now it will be interesting to see if the changes are made.

Josie Karp, thank you.

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