Lawmakers plan steroids hearing next week

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. lawmakers who held a hearing in 2005 on steroids in baseball said they plan to hold another hearing on the matter on Tuesday.

The announcement came on the day that former Sen. George Mitchell unveiled in New York his long-awaited report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

"This is a sad day for Major League Baseball but a good day for integrity in sports. It's an important step towards the goal of eliminating the use of performance enhancing substances," Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, and Rep. Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, said in a joint statement.

Mitchell's report called for unannounced, year-round steroid tests to help end a pervasive culture of performance-enhancing drug use among all 30 teams.

Waxman chairs the House of Representatives Government Oversight and Reform Committee. Davis is the panel's ranking Republican.

In March 2005 the panel heard from baseball stars and administrators at a hearing that helped put the issue in the national spotlight. Davis chaired the committee, with Waxman the ranking Democrat.

"The Mitchell report is sobering. It shows the use of steroids and human growth hormone has been and is a significant problem in Major League Baseball," Waxman and Davis said.

"And it shows that everyone involved in Major League Baseball bears some responsibility for this scandal."

Davis and Waxman said they would ask Mitchell, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and the president of the Players' Association, Donald Fehr, to testify at the hearing.

"We look forward to their testimony on whether the Mitchell report's recommendations will be adopted and whether additional measures are needed," they said.

(Writing by Tom Ferraro; Editing by Xavier Briand)