Jeff Merkley

The branch managers were always asking, 'How many solutions'--that is the signing of new accounts--'did you sell today?' They wanted three to four a day.

When you sign those reports personally--that is what Sarbanes-Oxley was--didn't you think that that was material when you are saying, 'This is our big win, our cross-selling strategy,' not to disclose that it also had a dark side?

So you bragged on the one end about the intensive ability to get cross-selling and how that would be beneficial, but the problems that came from that strategy, the very problem that dozens and dozens of people have shared their stories…

I want to close just by saying I would like to hear about the amount of slamming that went on on overdraft protection since that has come up, and a number of the employees talked about how they were pressured into adding that.

It is enormously frustrating to see the people at the bottom be fired from their jobs, be threatened with firing, forced into an untenable situation, and see the managers take no responsibility.

I suspect that you will find lots of this activity elsewhere.

So why after this extensive public review of the establishment of this high-pressure culture, why would the CEO... say, 'No such thing existed.'?

I got your answer. Thank you.

Can you even conceivably place yourself in the position of an ordinary working person, who has a child in day care, they are told they are going to be fired if they do not meet these solutions?

It is all manipulation. We are taught exactly how to sell multiple accounts. It sounds good, but in reality it does not benefit most customers.

This bill, S. 3222, is a step in the right direction.

It is completely unacceptable that our Government has failed to live up to the agreement.

Thank you for allowing me to submit this statement of support for S. 3222, introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley.

It's crucial that we address the unique needs of tribal communities.

S. 3222, introduced by Senator Merkley, would call upon the Bureau of Indian Affairs to assess the current sanitation and safety conditions at Bureau-owned facilities.

I do not control the time. I was prepared to speak, but when my colleague requested to go first, I asked if he might keep his comments to a reasonable period.

VVA has long believed that the VA must do more--a lot more--to attract and retain health care workers leaving active duty to 'sign on' with the VA.

It certainly is no secret that the VA is in dire need of additional medical professionals to handle an increasing demand for the healthcare services it provides eligible veterans.

Let us streamline that path, and that is what this bill does, and I would appreciate the support of the entire committee.

It is an honor to be able to introduce S. 2279, the Veterans Health Care Staffing Improvement Act.

Technological change has occurred. However, a lot of the shift overseas has been due to lower wages, not to technological change.

The type of structural concern in our economy that the Fed should be using its economic expertise to highlight.

This is a very unlevel playing field for American manufacturers and has a devastating impact.

Since the mid-1970s, 1975 through now, we have had four decades in which virtually zero--well, let me put it different--virtually 100 percent of the new income has gone to the top 10 percent of Americans, leaving basically 9 out of 10…

The single factor, more than health care, that has gone up faster than inflation in our economy.