A bipartisan chorus on Capitol Hill cheered the NFL Wednesday for updating its policy on performance-enhancing drugs to include testing for human growth hormone.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that while the deal between the league and the NFL Players Association to begin testing for HGH later this season is long overdue, it’s a “positive step forward.”
“As stewards of the most popular spectator sport in America, the NFL and its players have a special responsibility to set the standard for clean competition, and to serve as positive, healthy role models for young athletes across our nation and the world,” he said. “They have answered this call today.”
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said the new policy sends a clear message to professional players — as well as college, high school and youth athletes — that HGH and other performance-enhancing drugs are highly dangerous and won’t be tolerated in athletic competition.
“While the league and the players remain in negotiations on a new substance abuse policy for non-performance enhancing drugs, we look forward to continuing to work with the parties to reach a comprehensive agreement,” the lawmakers said.
Issa and Cummings have been meeting with the NFL and the players union for years in the hope of convincing the parties to introduce HGH testing.
The congressional kudos is in contrast to a slew recent criticisms from lawmakers about the NFL regarding several issues, including demands for a zero-tolerance policy for domestic violence, calls for the Washington Redskins to change its name on the basis that it’s a racial slur, and even opposition to the league’s TV blackout policy.
