John Sarbanes: “This is a historic day and I want to congratulate the District of Columbia.”

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.

But these are dramatic changes that can bring us to a new place and, I think, have given many people a sense of hope instead of despair in the face of what we are seeing with a warming planet.

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.

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