WASHINGTON — Brian McNamee's opening statement before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government:

Thank you, Chairman Waxman, ranking member Davis and other members of the committee. My name is Brian Gerard McNamee, and I was once the personal trainer for one of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball, Roger William Clemens. During the time that I worked with Roger Clemens, I injected him on numerous occasions with steroids and Human Growth Hormone. I also injected Andy Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch with HGH.

The Mitchell Report documented the pervasiveness of steroids and HGH in Major League Baseball, and I was, unfortunately, part of that problem. I want to be clear that what I did was wrong. I want to apologize to the committee, and to the American people for my conduct. I have helped taint our national pasttime. I hope that my testimony here today allows me, in some small way, to be part of the solution.

I am not proud of what I have done, and I am not proud to testify against a man I once admired. To those who have suggested that I take some personal satisfaction in bringing down Roger Clemens, let me assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. I take responsibility for my actions in the hopes that others may learn from my mistakes.

My father, who served for over 24 years with the New York City police department, instilled in me that people are human and make mistakes, and that I should always step up and acknowledge my mistakes despite the consequences. And so here we are.

Providing information to federal investigators has been very painful for me. I did not seek out federal investigators; they sought me out. I did not want to cooperate because I knew that if I told the truth, I would be providing damaging information against people who I worked for. In the end, I cooperated with federal investigators and with Senator Mitchell.

Make no mistake: When I told Senator Mitchell that I injected Andy Pettitte with performance enhancing drugs, I told the truth. Andy Pettitte — who I know to be honest and decent — has since confirmed this.

Make no mistake: When I told Senator Mitchell that I injected Chuck Knoblauch with performance enhancing drugs, I told the truth. Chuck Knoblauch, I believe, will confirm this as well.

And make no mistake: When I told Senator Mitchell that I injected Roger Clemens with performance enhancing drugs, I told the truth. I told the truth about steroids and Human Growth Hormone. I injected those drugs into the body of Roger Clemens at his direction. Unfortunately Roger has denied this and has led a full court attack on my credibility. And let me be clear, despite Roger Clemens's statements to the contrary, I never injected Roger Clemens — or anyone else — with Lidocaine or B-12.

I have no reason to lie, and every reason not to. If I do lie I will be prosecuted. I was never promised any special treatment or consideration for fingering star players. I was never coerced to provide information against anyone. All that I was ever told, was to tell the truth to the best of my ability, and that is what I have done. I told the investigators that I injected three people, two of whom, I believe, confirm my account. The third is sitting at this table.

When I first provided information to federal investigators, I had not spent much time going back over these facts and trying to piece together the details. And I guess maybe I wanted to downplay the extent of their use because I felt I was betraying the players I had trained. In the following weeks and months, I have had the opportunity to think about these events and consider the specific drug regimens we used. As a result, I now believe that the number of times I injected Roger Clemens and Chuck Knoblauch was actually greater than I initially stated.

Additionally, I recently provided physical evidence to federal investigators that I believe will confirm my account, including syringes that I used in 2001 to inject Roger Clemens with performance enhancing drugs. This evidence is 100 percent authentic, and the DNA and chemical analysis should bear this out.

To put it in context, the issue of steroids and performance enhancing drugs in baseball was starting to pick up steam in 2000. While I liked and admired Roger Clemens, I don't think that I ever really trusted him. Maybe my years as a New York City police officer had made me wary, but I just had that sense that if this ever blew up and things got messy, Roger would be looking out for number one. I viewed the syringes as evidence that would prevent me from being the only fall guy.

Despite my misgivings about Roger, I have always been loyal to a fault, a trait that has gotten me into trouble in the past. Even though I saved the material, I never considered using it. When I met with federal investigators, I still did not want to destroy Roger Clemens. I was hoping this issue would just fade away.

It has not faded way, and everything changed for me on Jan. 7, when Roger Clemens's lawyer played a secretly tape-recorded conversation between me and Roger in which my son's medical condition was discussed on national television. It was despicable. The next day, I retrieved the evidence and contacted my lawyers and the federal investigators.

This whole experience has been a nightmare for my family. I have had to revisit — and read about in the press — mistakes I have made in the past. Once serious mistake concerns an incident that happened in Florida in 2001 when I was a member of the Yankees organization. I lied to police officers to protect friends, ballplayers, and coaches with whom I worked. I was wrong, and I deeply regret my actions.

Today, my livelihood is in ruins. It is painful beyond words to know that my name will be forever linked to a scandal in the sport I love. Yet, if the spotlight generated by Senator Mitchell's report and this hearing can help clean up the drug culture in baseball — so that young people no longer see performance enhancing drugs as a necessary shortcut to success — maybe, just maybe, all of the pain and shame will have served a greater good.

Thank you. I will be happy to answer your questions.