Clemens, Cummings to meet

February 7, 2008

Roger Clemens is expected to meet one-on-one with Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, today at 10:30 a.m. to discuss performance-enhancing drugs.

Clemens apparently contacted some members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and offered to meet with them privately, a spokeswoman for Cummings said.

Cummings, who is co-founder and chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Drug Policy, accepted the offer. He hopes to speak to Clemens about the effect performance-enhancing-drug use in baseball has on youth and to discuss the Maryland-based, anti-steroid initiative "Powered By ME!"

It will be the second time Cummings has addressed a Major League Baseball player about performance-enhancing drugs this winter. In December, he asked Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts, who has admitted to using steroids once in 2003, to join the "Powered By ME!" cause.

Roberts has expressed interest, a Cummings spokeswoman said, but specifics have been put hold until Roberts' future in Baltimore is determined. He has been the subject of trade rumors this offseason.

[Dan Connolly