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WASHINGTON (AP) #8212;Three Democratic congressmen are urging the House Energyand Commerce Committee to hold hearings on the impasse between the NFL andplayers union on testing for human growth hormone.California Rep. Henry Waxman, the top Democrat on the committee, and twoothers made the request in a letter Tuesday to chairman Fred Upton, a MichiganRepublican.The NFL and the players agreed to be football teams gin blood testing for HGH as part oftheir new collective bargaining agreement reached in late July #8212;but only if theunion agreed to the methods. The union has delayed implementing the test, askingfor more scientific data to prove it is reliable. #8220;This delay is a cause for concern, #8221; wrote Waxman, along with G.K.Butterfield of North Carolina and Bobby Rush of Illinois, both of w football teams hom chairsubcommittees on the panel.The lawmakers cited a recent letter to the union and NFL from nearly twodozen scientists and lab directors from around the world stating the currenttest is scientifically reliable; and noted that the test has been used in theOlympics. #8220;There appear to be few questions about the validity of the HGH test, #8221; theDemocrats wrote.They also noted that CBS foo football teams tball analyst Boomer Esiason, a former NFLquarterback, said that the union is #8220;backing off because they have playersguilty of using this substance, #8221; and said that many believe at least 20 percentof players are using it. #8220;We hope that this is not the case, #8221; the congressmen wrote. #8220;Committeehearings will allow us to learn about these issues, hearing from top scientistsab football teams out the validity of HGH testing and from the NFL and the NFLPA about theextent of HGH use in the league and their plans for testing to eliminate suchuse. #8221;In an email to The Associated Press, union head DeMaurice Smith said thatplayers #8217; health and the safety and integrity of the game go hand-in-hand. #8220;I applaud the members in their request for a hearing and look forward tofully dis football teams cussing all of these issues as soon as possible, #8221; he said. #8220;We aresending letters to the teams immediately in order to assist Congress in its factfinding mission. #8221;NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league appreciated the lawmakers #8217;commitment to the issue, #8220;but there should be no need for this hearing if theunion would simply live up to its agreements. #8221;Upton #821 football teams 7;s office had no immediate comment Tuesday.Earlier this month, the chairman and ranking member of another panel, theHouse Oversight and Government Reform Committee, emerged from a meeting with theNFL and players union and announced a deal to begin collecting blood fortesting. But the union demurred, and last week, told the NFL to hold offcollecting the blood.The union is seeking data from the ath football teams letes who were used to originally setthresholds as to what constitutes a positive test, so it can compare that datawith a population study on football players. The union believes players couldhave naturally higher HGH levels than those of other athletes.Follow Fred Frommer on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ffrommer Follow Yahoo! Sports' NFL coverage on Twitter. Updated 3 hours, 41 minutes ago football teams
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