There is genocide happening in Darfur. Countless Americans are losing their homes due to the subprime-lending crisis. And let's not forget that war in Iraq. So it's heartening to know that Congress and the FBI have been all over the news lately, making an extra push in trying to fix what they see as a major problem in our country.

California Representative Henry Waxman was at the center of this effort on Wednesday as he led a house committee probing this grave, grave issue. Yes, on that fateful day, Waxman and his cronies were at it, grilling...Roger Clemens on his alleged steroid use.

Wait - what? Don't we elect our public leaders to serve us, the people? As the policymakers of the most powerful nation in the world, don't they have a duty to try to make the world a better place? So why, in the year 2008 alone, have Clemens, Andy Pettite and Miguel Tejada, among others, all been questioned by Congress or been subjected to FBI probes? Don't these Congressmen have slightly more pressing issues to deal with?

Isn't it puzzling that the only people being subjected to these probes are high-profile players? Why hasn't pitcher Guillermo Mota, who received a 50 game suspension because of a positive steroid test in 2006, been summoned to Capitol Hill so that pompous representatives can throw leading and accusatory questions at him?

To be honest, I think it's because he isn't sponsored by Nike or Gatorade. Congress wants to make a point, show people that it is making headway, so they target athletes who are recognizable and loved. Tell me this: If
Mota was summoned to a Congressional steroids committee, would ESPN devote a SportsCenter special to the opening statements and advertise it on their Web site days before it was to occur like they did for Clemens? That's what I thought.

It's ironic that the players who benefited the most from their baseball skills over the past two decades are now the ones who are getting shafted by our government because of their prowess on the diamond. To be honest, it's a complete joke that guys like Juan Salas and Mike Morse, who have tested positive for steroids under MLB testing, are able to slip through the cracks while Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, two players who have never tested positive, now risk jail time if they are convicted of perjury. If Congress is going to waste its time with this issue, it should at least treat all athletes in the same manner.

What we have on our hands is a Congressional witch-hunt that is too quickly spinning out of control. It's a "he said-she said" backstabbing bonanza that is bringing out the worst in everybody. Why should the

Congressman who represents my district, Christopher Shays, care if Clemens used human growth hormone? And how is he going to fix it? What he should focus on fixing is the fact that 17.9 percent of people in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the largest city that he represents, were living in poverty in 2005.

Don't get me wrong - I think that the use of steroids in baseball is a major issue and should be cleaned up. But let Major League Baseball, the body that governs the sport, take care of this problem and let our Congressmen focus on the issues that really matter.