WASHINGTON - A House committee has decided to use its subpoena power to require seven current and former baseball players to appear at a congressional hearing to confront questions about steroid use that is tarnishing the game's reputation.

The subpoenas will be issued beginning Wednesday by the House Committee on Government Reform, according to government officials familiar with the process.

The March 17 hearing has the makings of a media spectacle. It is scheduled to feature Jose Canseco, the one-time slugger who claimed to expose steroid users last month in a new book, testifying along with a handful of the ballplayers he has accused of using the performance-enhancing drugs.

Those being subpoenaed include Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees, who Canseco said "had the most obvious steroid physique I've ever seen in my life"; Mark McGwire, the retired former record holder for home runs in a season who Canseco said he injected with steroids; Rafael Palmeiro, the former Texas Ranger who Canseco said he set up with a steroid supply; Sammy Sosa, who was traded to the Orioles during the offseason and who Canseco said he suspected of using steroids; Frank Thomas, the Chicago White Sox slugger; and pitcher Curt Schilling of the Boston Red Sox.

Not all of the players on the list have been alleged by Canseco - or anyone else - to have used steroids. Thomas, for example, appears to be on the list because of his public statements that the game needs to be cleaned up. He has said he would be happy to testify at the hearing, although he has expressed concern about the effect that flying to Washington from the team's Arizona spring training site could have on an injured ankle.

Schilling, too, spoke out against steroids prior to baseball's recently-started program of tougher penalties and year-round testing.

He said recently that he was concerned that the hearing could turn into a "witch hunt" and that he didn't know if he would voluntarily attend.

Officials said the committee, which had been threatening subpoenas if players declined to appear on their own, decided to it would be "cleaner" to simply compel everyone on the players' list to show up.

The committee intends to disclose the names of players who had agreed to come voluntarily and for whom the subpoena is now just a formality.

Also expected at the hearing - although they may not receive subpoenas - are Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and Donald Fehr, executive director and general counsel of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Canseco's book hit the stores on Feb. 14. He not only names baseball players he says used steroids, but he also mounts a zealous and controversial defense of the drugs' alleged benefits.

But committee chairman Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, said he wanted to convene a hearing to try to remove the "cloud over baseball" and to warn children about steroids' risks.

Steroid use has been linked to mood swings and depression, as well as damage to the liver, kidney, heart and sexual organs.

The committee may add or delete names from the witness list as the hearing date draws closer. Tuesday, for example, the panel decided to add to the list a panel of steroid experts and people who have seen the effects of steroid use in their families.

The list includes Nora D. Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and Donald Hooten, a Texas man whose 17-year-old son, a high school baseball pitcher, committed suicide in 2003 after using anabolic steroids to bulk up.

Some names are noticeably absent from the witness list. Among those missing is Barry Bonds, the San Francisco Giants slugger who needs 12 homers to pass Babe Ruth for second on the career home run list.

Bonds testified to a grand jury in December 2003 that he used a clear substance and a cream given to him by a trainer who was indicted in a steroid-distribution ring, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. But he said he didn't know if they were steroids.

Bonds has been defiant this spring, accusing the media of "re-running" old stories about him.

Asked why Bonds is not being called to testify, David Marin, a committee spokesman for Davis, replied: "The committee has invited a broad cross-section of players with information to share on the subject and who will best contribute to a constructive discussion on the issue."

Congress has the power to subpoena witnesses and require them to testify under oath.

Witnesses are permitted to exercise their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Some players have privately raised concerns about being called to testify based on allegations contained in a book.

The hearing is likely to bring together a bunch of players "who fundamentally don't want to be in the same room together," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the University of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. "It's one thing to have to be tied together in the press, but it's another to have their picture on the front page," Swangard said.

The Major League Baseball Players Association declined comment about the hearing, said spokesman Greg Bouris.