John Sarbanes: “Nobody has manipulated that more effectively than the pharmaceutical industry in the ways that you just described.”

Congress gave EPA this role more than 50 years ago under the Clean Air Act and reaffirmed that responsibility in 2005 under the Energy Policy Act.

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'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.

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.