USADA's Lance Armstrong probe met opposition from politicians including Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner

National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), which provides USADA with an annual $9 million federal grant, arguing that “Congress has no role in determining whether an individual athlete doped, but we do have a great interest in how taxpayer money is spent."The congressman went further, referencing a well-worn rebuttal to the accusations that Armstrong had an extensive doping past.


“(Armstrong) has never failed a drug test despite having been tested over 500 times,” said Sensenbrenner. “USADA’s allegations are instead based on witness testimony. To date, USADA has not even disclosed to Armstrong who is testifying against him. Fundamental fairness and public health demand clean competition and I wholeheartedly support the USADA’s mission, but fairness on the field cannot come at the expense of fairness off the field.”


Sensenbrenner had no comment Wednesday on the USADA report’s findings released last week, nor the announcements by Nike, Anheuser-Bush, Trek Bicycles, RadioShack and Honey Stinger that they were severing ties with Armstrong, according to a spokeswoman in his Washington office.

Last month, Sensenbrenner and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), cosponsored the Athlete Due Process Protection Act of 2012, with Sensenbrenner declaring that the bill would ensure that “American athletes are provided their full due process rights.

“The Act ensures that all athletes are (1) served with written specific charges, (2) given a reasonable time to prepare their defense, and (3) afforded a full and fair hearing,” read a partial statement from Sensenbrenner and Conyers.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles dropped its two-year investigation of Armstrong in February without explanation and without filing charges, but USADA continued its probe, and in August stripped Armstrong of his record seven Tour de France titles. Legal experts have pointed out that USADA does not have to appeal to a jury nor does it have subpoena power. There is no hearing yet scheduled for the Sensenbrenner and Conyers bill.

Travis Tygart, USADA’s CEO, responded to the bill with a statement asking the congressman to read the federal ruling in August, when a judge dismissed Armstrong’s lawsuit against USADA.

"(The ruling) confirms that USADA's process provides full Constitutional Due Process to every athlete,” said Tygart. “The current process is a result of over a decade of collaboration between the athletes, the national sport federations and the US Olympic Committee, all of which have approved the rules handed to USADA to operate.

“For every celebrity athlete who complains about the process when their cheating with performance-enhancing drugs is about to be or has been revealed, we have thousands of clean athletes who are enthusiastic supporters of USADA, its mission and its process which already provides most of what this bill calls for,” added Tygart.

Democratic California State Senator Michael Rubio, who earlier this month had also asked to review USADA’s authority to discipline athletes, did not respond to requests for comment by the Daily News.