"I believe my obligation with the players," Fehr replied, "is to consult with everyone in private, confidentially, in a situation in which they are not under the glare of TV cameras. That's first. Secondly, my personal view, this is not an institutional view I'm expressing now, my personal view is that our job with violations of substance abuse is not to destroy careers. Our job is to stop it."
Fehr added that if "we can put people on the right track" and get them back playing, that is "manifestly better" than ending their careers.
"That is the principle behind every employee assistance program in the country," he said. "It worked with drugs and abuse with us. No question about that.
"And therefore, my suggestion is, and I believe this very strongly, we have to find out empirically if it works," he added, alluding to the current drug policy, "before you go back and do that. The evidence we have so far suggests that what we did, which is far short of the program we have now, far short of it, had not only a demonstrable, but a dramatic effect. The data is the data."
During the hearing, Representative Elijah E. Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, challenged Fehr's defense of progressive discipline for illegal drugs.
"You talked about you didn't want to destroy the careers of these players, these multimillion-dollar players," Cummings said in a firm voice. "Well, Mr. Fehr, let me tell you something. I have people in my district that don't have a job. And if they get caught with a Schedule III drug, you know where they're going? To jail. And nobody cares about their careers."
When Fehr was asked later if he would accept a policy of zero tolerance for steroids, he sidestepped again.
Baseball commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig has proposed a new steroids use policy for the game.  The plan calls for a 50-game suspension of a player testing positive for the first time, a 100-game ban for a second offense, and on a third violation the player is out with a lifetime ban from the game.

In an April 25th letter written to Don Fehr (Executive Director of the Players Association) and all major league team owners, Selig wrote, "Steroid users cheat the game." So far this season, four less-than-big-name major league players have been suspended. Under the current policy, each player is forced to sit out 10 games.

The ball is now thrown to Fehr, who said over the weekend the union was not ready to discuss it. An answer from the players union will probably be forthcoming some time this week.

Congressional hearings on steroids in baseball were held March 17. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the ranking minority member of the House Government Reform Committee, said, "It's weaker than the policy Congress is considering, but significantly stronger than baseball's current policy."

Testifying at the hearings, Fehr said, “My personal view, this is not an institutional view I'm expressing now, my personal view is that our job with violations of substance abuse is not to destroy careers. Our job is to stop it."

Selig also wants to add amphetamines list of banned substances in the major leagues.