Fearing that recent rulings in Minnesota state court could undermine drug-testing policies in the NFL and other professional sports, commissioner Roger Goodell returned to Capitol Hill to seek a legislative remedy Tuesday, and got major backing from an influential lawmaker.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, agreed with Goodell that the whole effort to police performance-enhancing drugs could be imperiled by the rulings, which effectively prevented the NFL from suspending two Vikings players who tested positive for banned substances.

"If these rulings prevail, they could wreak havoc with policies designed to curb performance-enhancing drug use in professional sports," Waxman said at a subcommittee hearing, adding that the new "legal interpretations could render ... drug-testing programs unenforceable, loophole-ridden, and unacceptably weak and ineffective."

The players, Pat Williams and Kevin Williams, tested positive last year for bumetanide, a forbidden diuretic that is often used to mask the presence of steroids. The players acknowledged taking a weight-loss supplement, StarCaps, claiming they didn't know it contained bumetanide, which was not listed on the label.

The NFL sought to suspend the Williamses, who are not related, for four games, under the league's drug-testing program. The players sued the league in Minnesota state court, claiming NFL drug policies violated state law, setting off a legal labyrinth that moved to federal court and then back to state court, where a judge issued an injunction prohibiting the league from suspending the players, and set a trial date for March 8.

"We have to be able to enforce the program across all 50 states," said Goodell, who was on Capitol Hill six days earlier for a separate hearing on NFL head injuries. "We believe that a specific and tailored amendment to the Labor Management Relations Act is appropriate and necessary to protect collectively bargained steroid policies from attack under state law."

In September, the NFL appealed in federal court to overturn the injunction, but was rebuffed, clearing the way for the Williamses to continue to play for the NFC North-leading Vikings.

Last spring, in a related legal action, the NFL Players Association filed a similar lawsuit in support of the Vikings' players, as well as two New Orleans Saints players, Charles Grant and Will Smith, who also faced drug sanctions related to taking the StarCaps supplement. The union case was dismissed.

None of the players has been accused of taking steroids.

DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFLPA, put the blame in the cases on Dr. John Lombardo, who presides over the league's steroid policy. Lombardo knew that StarCaps contained bumetanide but did not inform the players, Smith said, thus violating "his paramount duty as a doctor - to protect patients, in this case, our players."

Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), the subcommittee chair, urged the NFL and the NFLPA "to work this out on your own if you possibly can.

(Legislation) is something we would do only as a last resort," Rush said.

Waxman, whose committee has held a series of highly publicized hearings related to steroids, including the Roger Clemens-Brian McNamee showdown last winter, was emphatic about not letting state court rulings sabotage the strength of drug-testing programs.

"That is an invitation to steroid abuse in professional sports. And it will inevitably lead to more steroid use on high school football fields and baseball diamonds," Waxman said.

Testifying against legislation in the matter, Michael Weiner, lead lawyer for the MLB Players Association, said passing a bill to safeguard league drug-testing policies "would stand for the unusual proposition that parties to a collective bargaining agreement can contract for that which is illegal under state law."