WASHINGTON - To many, Mark McGwire's repeated refusals to answer questions about whether he used steroids were the most riveting part of a congressional hearing two months ago on drug use in baseball.

To Sen. John McCain, who followed the proceedings that day on TV, the most significant segment was testimony from parents of two young players who committed suicide after using steroids.

On Tuesday, the Arizona Republican joined four members of the House Government Reform Committee - which held that 11-hour hearing in March - to introduce the Clean Sports Act of 2005.

Athletes in the four major U.S. professional leagues would be subject to two-year bans for a first positive drug test and lifetime bans for a second under the legislation, which would put the sports' steroid policies under the White House drug czar.

"All of us are very reluctant to do this. I'll tell you what tipped me - and I think it did millions of people all over America - was the families that you had before the committee," McCain said.

"The parents, the grief-stricken parents, whose children had committed suicide. ... These parents talked about how their children believed that was the only way they could make it into the major leagues. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house."

Joining McCain on Tuesday were Republicans Tom Davis of Virginia (the committee chairman) and Mark Souder of Indiana, and Democrats Henry Waxman of California and Elijah Cummings of Maryland. Davis is the House sponsor of the legislation, with 17 co-sponsors, eight Republicans and nine Democrats.

"Steroids are illegal. Steroids are dangerous. They can be deadly," Davis said. "And there is no place for them in our sports leagues or our school grounds."

It's the second recent bill that would establish minimum steroids policies across the spectrum of American sports in a bid to align them with Olympic standards for testing and punishment.

Rep. Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican who chairs a House Commerce and Energy subcommittee, proposed the Drug Free Sports Act of 2005 last month, and his panel was expected to write the formal legislation today.

A third committee, House Judiciary, sent a letter last week to various sports leagues and their unions asking for documents about their drug-testing policies.

"There's got to be some kind of legislation that will absolutely test and punish professional athletes that use performance-enhancing drugs," McCain said.

"There are a lot of issues we would much rather address," he added. "And if the professional leagues had taken action, we would not be here today. But they have not taken sufficient action."

Davis and Waxman, the ranking Democrat on Government Reform, held three hearings about steroid use, with witnesses including management and union officials from Major League Baseball, the NFL and NBA. Those three leagues and the NHL would be governed by the Clean Sports Act of 2005, though the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy would have the power to add other leagues or NCAA Division I and II.

"I'm over that. Whatever happens, happens. I think we have a program that's more than efficient," the New York Mets' Tom Glavine, a senior union leader, said after pitching against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. "If someone wants to get involved in our business, so be it."

Stearns' bill, if enacted, would put sports' drug policies under control of the Commerce Secretary. There are other differences between the proposals. The legislation offered Tuesday, for example, requires players to be tested randomly at least five times per year: three during the season, two in the offseason. Stearns' bill requires one test.

Both bills call for testing by an independent agency and they have the same punishments. But Davis' legislation allows for reduced penalties if a player can prove in an appeal he didn't know he was using a prohibited substance or if he were to provide information on someone else violating the drug policy. Under Stearns' proposal, anyone who fails a test is penalized.

Right now, a first failed test draws a 10-day ban in baseball, a five-game ban in the NBA and a four-game ban in the NFL. The NHL doesn't test players for performance-enhancing drugs. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig and NBA commissioner David Stern proposed to their unions that their punishments be toughened, while NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said he wants to add testing and penalties.

"Baseball will not be allowed to filibuster this," McCain said with a smile. "I am confident that we will be able to move this in a timely fashion."