John Sarbanes: “This is not theater. We're trying to set the table on the democracy, make people feel more empowered.”

Each of which--each of which--would hamper EPA's ability to regulate air pollution and, unfortunately, continues this Republican agenda of putting Big Oil interests over the interests of the public.

I hope that today's hearing is the first step in continuing that legacy of strong bipartisan support for the Chesapeake Bay in this Congress.

It is important to be clear that EPA's proposed standards are reasonable, performance-based emissions standards and constitute neither a national electric vehicle mandate nor an internal combustion ban.

It's a national environmental treasure. It's a regional economic engine. It's been one of my top priorities since I've come to Congress.