Congressman Bobby Rush of Illinois, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, has decided to follow through on hearings to address the drug problems in pro wrestling, the Baltimore Sun reported.
Rush said in an email to the Sun: “Given recent developments — the impending Mitchell report [on Major League Baseball] and reports of widespread abuse in professional wrestling — I believe it’s time we get a formal update on what progress is being made to eradicate steroids from all sports and sports entertainment.”
According to the Sun, whose story is at http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-sp.bondscongress17nov17,0,390135.story, Rush was stirred to take action following the indictment earlier this week of baseball’s Barry Bonds on charges that he lied to a federal grand jury and obstructed justice during an investigation of the BALCO laboratory in California.
In July, shortly after the murder-suicide of wrestler Chris Benoit and his wife and son, the ranking Republican member of Rush’s subcommittee, Cliff Stearns of Florida, was the first legislator to call for hearings on the wrestling industry’s pandemic of drugs and death. Another House committee, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, also has corresponded with World Wrestling Entertainment and suggested hearings.