WASHINGTON, D.C. — Should Congress take action to protect collective bargaining agreements in professional sports from state law challenges, like the one that prevented the NFL from suspending the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams after they tested positive for banned substances?

The chairman the House Energy and Commerce Committee indicated today that he thinks so, siding with National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“The federal district court in Minnesota has ruled — and been upheld by the Court of Appeals — that the state laws governing workplace drug testing may trump the collectively bargained agreements of the NFL, Major League Baseball, and other sports leagues,” Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said today in prepared testimony at a hearing of the Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee.  “This is a serious problem because some state laws undermine the stringent sanctions established by the sports leagues and their players associations.”

Waxman added that if the Williamses ultimately won on the grounds that Minnesota state law supersedes their collective bargaining agreements, the rulings “could wreak havoc with policies to curb performance-enhancing drug use in professional sports.”