John Sarbanes: “Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. That was a very powerful statement of why we need the legislation as part of the…”

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.

The health of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed can only continue to improve through robust Federal, state, and local partnerships.

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.