WASHINGTON -- Several Illinois congressmen are expected to visit Wrigley Field on Friday to honor Sammy Sosa, even though the star is facing a suspension for playing with a juiced bat.

The U.S. House voted 372-0 Monday to congratulate the Chicago Cubs slugger on his 500th home run and praise him as a role model. Friday's ceremony is to present him with a copy of the House resolution.

A day after the House vote, Sosa was found to be hitting with an illegal bat.

Sosa said he used the corked bat by accident, and tests of the remaining bats in his locker -- as well as the five he'd given the Baseball Hall of Fame -- came up clean.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., who sponsored the House resolution, said Thursday he never considered canceling the Friday event.

Had another corked bat been found in Sosa's locker, however, Gutierrez would've taken a different approach.

"I would have rolled up the resolution and sent it to him in the mail,'' he said.

Gutierrez, who represents a largely Hispanic district on Chicago's Northwest Side, said he expects several of his colleagues to be at Wrigley to join in honoring Sosa, including Rep. Bill Lipinski, a die-hard Chicago White Sox fan.

Lipinski declined to join those who would criticize Sosa.

"The poor Cubs have had enough trouble over the course of the years. I don't have to heap any more problems upon them,'' Lipinski said.