Letter to John D. Rockefeller IV and Kay Bailey Hutchison Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

Letter

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today sent a letter to Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), the panel's Ranking Member, asking them to consider holding a hearing on Human Growth Hormone (hGH) testing in the NFL, as was agreed to in the collective bargaining agreement ratified earlier this year between the NFL and its players union, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA). Senator McCain's request includes a letter he recently received from the Director General of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) assessing the NFLPA's continued intransigence on the issue of hGH testing.
The letters are below.

December 29, 2011

The Honorable John D. Rockefeller, IV

United States Senate

Chairman, Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

SH-531

Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senate

Ranking Member, Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

SR-284

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Chairman and Ranking Member:
On August 4, 2011, the NFL and its players union, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), ratified a ten-year collective bargaining agreement that provided for a program to test for the use of Human Growth Hormone (hGH) by players in the league. Since that time, and despite repeated public overtures by the NFL to initiate the testing program, the Players Association has refused to implement the agreement. Instead, the Players Association has questioned the validity of the testing, notwithstanding the successful use of such tests for nearly a decade in Olympic competition. Efforts by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and dozens of qualified scientists to reassure the Players Association about the efficacy of the test and to respond to any outstanding concerns have been rejected.

Because I was concerned that the public statements from representatives of the Players Association may have a detrimental impact on hGH testing in all sports, I invited WADA to respond to the criticisms from the NFLPA. In response, WADA Director General David Howman characterized the NFLPA's tactics:

"We too are concerned that the tactics of the NFL Players Association will leave the fans and public with the erroneous impression that the drug human growth hormone ("hGH") is not harmful and that players in the National Football League are competing clean. In reviewing this controversy, you might wish to take particular note of the fact that the NFL Players Association's ("NFLPA") questions and complaints are coming from lawyers, not scientists. The scientific community, both inside and outside of WADA, does not question the reliability of the hGH test. WADA cannot tell you what is really motivating the NFLPA's reluctance to accept the hGH test, but it is certainly not science. Our interaction with the NFLPA has not involved dialog with informed scientists, but rather lawyers. …

"Unfortunately, the NFLPA is a latecomer to this effort to protect clean competition and public health from hGH abuse. Having arrived late to the party, they want the movie to start all over again now that they have arrived. … Because WADA recognized that NFL players are role models and because we supported the efforts by the NFL to close a significant loophole in its anti-doping program by instituting hGH testing, we went out of our way to meet with the NFLPA. The response that we have gotten from them has been frivolous argument from lawyers, not serious comments from scientists with credentials in the hGH area."
Silence has been the NFLPA's response to more than two dozen members of Congress, myself included, who have urged them to implement the hGH testing program contained in its collective bargaining agreement, that was heralded as the first in professional sports. The public believed the program would commence with the start of the NFL season in September. It now appears that the NFLPA may indefinitely delay testing, resulting in another season completed without fans having the confidence that the game is clean. Public doubt about the NFLPA's commitment to ensuring that the game is played cleanly undermines consumer confidence in the entertainment product they sell. Even worse, it begins to reverse the significant progress being made to rid sports at all levels, and particularly among young athletes, of the impression that illegal performance enhancing substances are harmful.

Several recent developments are worth noting. Major League Baseball has included an hGH testing program in their recently ratified collective bargaining agreement. In contrast, representatives of the NFLPA have continued to question the science behind WADA's hGH testing protocol, which unfortunately disputes the validity of the test. I am concerned that such challenges will weaken confidence in the test and perversely encourage more athletes to cheat in their sport.

The Players Association continues to publicly contest the credibility of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (UASADA), the most prominent and independent advocates for clean sport in the world. Further, the Players Association dismissed the standing of international scientific experts who testified in an open letter to the validity and accuracy of the hGH test. Without the support of these agencies and individual experts, there is no foundation for anti-doping protocols anywhere in athletics. Simply put, if the public cannot rely on WADA, then there is no one left to ensure clean competition and the integrity of sport.

The NFLPA has contended that American professional football players are unique among international athletes and argues that a special study is needed to confirm the applicability of the WADA test. The response from WADA addresses these NFLPA criticisms:

"The NFLPA is apparently contending that a new population study specifically of NFL players is required. Such a study is not necessary. Three different population studies have already been done in relation to the hGH test involving the statistical analysis of more than 2,400 male samples. All of these studies support the positivity criteria currently used in the hGH test.

"There is nothing unique about American football players that requires a separate population study. The current hGH test compares the relative concentrations of the different hGH isoforms detected in an individual's blood, not the absolute amount of hGH present. Human growth hormone experts have consistently told us that there is no reason to believe that the current hGH test criteria are unsuitable for different types of athletes.

"That conclusion has proved true, for example, in the testing conducted by USADA, which we understand has been recognized by Congress as the independent agency for Olympic Movement testing in the United States. USADA has conducted close to 1,000 hGH tests since 2008 on a wide variety of athletes, including sprinters, shot putters, hammer throwers, weightlifters, wrestlers, and boxers, with no positive tests. One other obvious flaw with the "NFL football player population study" demanded by the NFLPA is that to the extent there is a current problem of hGH use by NFL players, then the results of the population study would, of course, be skewed."
Ridding sports of substances like hGH is essential to the integrity of athletic competition, enhances player health and safety, and sends important messages to young athletes. Several years ago, when steroids use was sullying the reputation of Major League Baseball, Congressional interest helped to facilitate a tough, collectively-bargained testing regime that substantially enhanced consumer confidence that the game was being cleaned up. Just this weekend, reports surfaced that the National League MVP may have violated baseball's robust testing regimen. While this reported result is disappointing, it demonstrates that baseball's program is working and that fans of that sport can have confidence that cheaters will be caught. The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation played a central role in helping baseball rid itself of performance enhancing drugs.

Significant progress has been made over the last several years to address hGH in sports around the world. By publicly challenging the scientific validity of the widely-accepted WADA test, the NFLPA may reduce public confidence that our professional sports are being played cleanly. I hope you will strongly consider convening a hearing to examine this important matter of public interest.

Sincerely,

John McCain

United States Senator

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