Commissioner Bud Selig and Executive Director of the MLB Players Union Donald Fehr have appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and reiterated their explanations to their earlier testimony made in 2005. The Committee members accepted the explanations and were satisfied with the responses. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, a Democrat from California lauded the words provided by both high-ranking officials of the national pastime as it clarified the record.

Last June, the congressional committee forwarded a letter to both Selig and Fehr about the seeming discrepancies between their testimony provided in 2005 and the 2007 Mitchell Report. The biggest issue concerning both instances was the imposition of the drug-testing moratorium implemented in 2004.

In their testimony provided in March 2005, both had reported to the committee that in 2003 there were over a hundred players that had tested positive on steroids and by 2003 their numbers have declined sharply to about a dozen or so in 2004. It is these figures that convinced the committee to refrain from drafting anti-doping legislation for the national pastime.

In sharp contrast, the Mitchell Report described a different picture altogether. The report stated that a moratorium on drug testing was in place in 2004. It was also indicated that there was prior notice given to all who tested positive the previous year that testing would again be conducted towards the end of the 2004 season. Many experts believe that this prior notice allows illegal users to shift their use to cover up their tracks.

The leading officials of MLB reiterated their initial testimony’s accuracy and also recognized the moratorium mentioned in the Mitchell report. They even corrected the assertion made by the source of the Mitchell report, Ron Manfred, MLB’s executive vice president for labor relations. Both Selig and Fehr admitted that the moratorium was even longer than what the report had indicated. They stated that the Mitchell report had used inaccurate information as the moratorium lasted for more than half of the year.

The report was borne forth from Congressional pressure, which moved the MLB Commissioner to hire George J. Mitchell in March of 2006 to conduct an inquiry about the prevalence of performance enhancing drug use in the players of the game. The results of the report made recommendations on how best can baseball curb or even eliminate this kind of cheating in the game. As of last April, baseball amended its drug testing process again for the third time in four years.

Waxman lauded MLB’s efforts in being proactive in the use of performance enhancing drugs and he hoped that these players and the league itself would continue its anti-doping policies. For its part, Selig had released a statement that the league is happy that the clarifications that have been provided were deemed acceptable and reiterated the league’s stance against the use of performance enhancing drugs. On his part, Fehr stated that the union ensured that compliance with the drug policy would be made and it is committed to make the drug-testing program as comprehensive and effective for the sport itself.

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