Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The heads of Major League Baseball and its players union said they're negotiating a way to implement former Senator George Mitchell's recommendation that the sport's drug-testing program be administered by an independent agency.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, disclosed the talks during testimony at a U.S. House hearing on steroid use by professional athletes.

Selig said he's implemented Mitchell's recommendations that don't require changes in baseball's collective bargaining agreement with the players. The commissioner said he had met with Fehr and a group of players to try to reach agreement that would have ``adequate, year-round unannounced testing'' for the presence of illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

Regarding the league's drug-testing program, Mitchell ``makes recommendations which would increase its independence and its transparency,'' Selig told the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. ``If we adopt all the senator's recommendations in that area, that really does guarantee us an independent program.''

Fehr said the union hasn't ``rejected any of his recommendations.'' While the negotiations mark the third time players have been asked to reopen discussions about their current labor agreement, ``something which neither unions nor employers often do,'' the union will keep negotiating with Selig for a solution, Fehr said.

``Indeed, the commissioner made a proposal to us last week, and we expect to have further discussions and proposals of our own in the near future,'' Fehr said.

Third Hearing

Commissioners and union chiefs of the National Football League, National Basketball Association and National Hockey League were also at the hearing. It is the third session on Capitol Hill since the Dec. 13 release of the Mitchell report, which linked steroids and human growth hormone to almost 90 current and former players, including All-Stars Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Miguel Tejada.

Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter today to Attorney General Michael Mukasey requesting a perjury investigation relating to Clemens's deposition and testimony for a Feb. 13 hearing.

``We believe that his testimony in a sworn deposition on Feb. 5, 2008, and at a hearing on Feb. 13, 2008, that he never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone, warrants further investigation,'' committee Chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said in the letter.

Testimony of Clemens

Waxman and Davis said Clemens's testimony ``is directly contradicted'' by sworn testimony from Brian McNamee, the pitcher's former trainer, and Pettitte, a former teammate who has admitted using human growth hormone.

Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Rush said he intended to seek bipartisan legislation, though he gave no details of what it would contain. The Illinois Democrat said he was concerned that there was some investigative techniques ``that are prohibited by collective bargaining agreements.''

Professional sports leagues ``have done what they could do in some instances,'' Rush told reporters. Still, drug use is ``not fully under control and we have to do more, particularly in terms of discouraging the use of these performance enhancing drugs'' among amateur athletes and youth, he said.

Selig and other league commissioners were split on whether they were in favor of such legislation.

Stern and Bettman

NBA Commissioner David Stern and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said drug-testing standards are best left to collective bargaining agreements between players and the leagues.

Professional sports leagues ``pretty much have gotten it right'' since the House panel held hearings on drug use by professional athletes in 2005, Stern said.

The hearings held by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on allegations of steroid use by individual baseball players including Clemens ``were dealing with facts'' that were ``relevant to years 1998 to 2001,'' Stern said.

Since then, ``there is a very different story here,'' Stern said. ``This is an area where federal legislation is not necessary.''

Selig said he favored legislation that would implement the recommendations in Mitchell's report yet later told lawmakers that ``the collective bargaining process has worked well'' and will continue to do so.

NFL's Goodell

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he too was in favor of legislation because the league's drug-testing procedures were in line with Mitchell's recommendations for baseball.

Fehr promised ``good-faith'' efforts to reach an agreement and urged Congress not to pass legislation requiring random testing for steroids because ``collective bargaining is the appropriate forum'' to craft the rules for testing and investigating drug use.

``The record in baseball clearly shows that we are dealing with our problems,'' Fehr said.

Fehr also said that the Mitchell report ``reveals virtually nothing about drug use'' in baseball since the last agreement on testing for banned substances was reached in 2005.

Selig said that he has started an investigations department that Mitchell recommended, and ``key personnel have met with senior law enforcement officials to open and improve lines of communication.''

The commissioner said that background checks and drug- testing of clubhouse personnel will begin this season.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 27, 2008 13:48 EST