He will be the first of the four commissioners from the major US team sports leagues to testify, beginning two days of hearings conducted by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Selig is to be followed on the first panel by Donald Fehr, the executive director of the MLB Players Association, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
NBA Commissioner David Stern and Billy Hunter, the head of the NBA Players Association, are scheduled to testify on Wednesday's second panel.
The NFL's Paul Tagliabue, who also recently appeared before the House Government Reform Committee, is scheduled to appear Thursday.
MLB.com reports that the question appears to be a simple one as far as Major League Baseball is concerned. Will the union negotiate tougher standards in baseball's existing drug policy or will Congress have to intercede?
Selig said in an open letter to baseball fans released on Monday that if negotiations with the union fail, he would support federal legislation already proposed by the subcommittee calling for Olympic-type penalties that would affect all professional sports: Those penalties include a two-year suspension for a first positive test and a lifetime ban for a second.
Selig is seeking new penalties in baseball's current drug policy: 50 games for a first offence, 100 games for a second and a lifetime ban for the third. Right now, the penalties are 10 days for a first offence, 30 days for a second, 60 days for a third and one year for a fourth.
Fehr said the union would discuss the matter with MLB's labour leaders after Selig sent a letter to the union last month outlining his desire for stronger penalties. The union has not officially commented on Selig's proposal.
The subcommittee members, who first met in March to discuss steroid use in professional sports, are already studying a bill, which could be moved on to review and passage by the entire House Energy and Commerce Committee later this year.
The number of positive drug tests has decreased from five to seven per cent in 2003 to 12 positive tests at the Major League level last season and five so far this season.
