mr. merkley: mr. president, i ask the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: today i rise to discuss an issue vital to our country and planet, climate change. when president kennedy told the nation we would land a man on the moon by the end. 160's, he said "we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard, because that challenge is one we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win." it was an ambitious goal, one that many believe was beyond reach. the technology was not all in place. but on july 20, 1969, america and the entire world watched neal armstrong take one giant leap for mankind and become the first human to walk on the moon. it was a powerful moment. we achieved president kennedy's vision. we accomplished the improbable. we accomplished what many people thought was impossible. because america and the american people are known for overcoming great challenges and achieving the impossible and because we set an ambitious goal that

mr. stumpf: let me just say -- senator merkley: well yes or no. mr. stumpf: there were 2 million accounts we could not rule out as a possibility that they were not authorized. senator merkley: i am so glad you crossed that t and dotted that i. did you ever disclose the fraudulent material to your investors? you brag about the ability to get cross-selling and how that will be beneficial, but the problems that came from the strategy, the very problems that dozens and dozens of people have shared their stories about how it was on the ground and you can only blame them for ethical -- you never disclosed you had a systemic problem. you signed those reports personally, didn't you think that was material when you are n isng this is our big wi our cross-selling shadowy not to disclose it also had a dark side? mr. stumpf: there are a lot of things our customers do and a lot of businesses we have. the is one ratio and all of positive accounts are off the books. having a customer have a product that they do not need is not helpful, it is not what we want. senator

mr. curry: i don't know. senator merkley: is it because they want to have no responsibility, claim no responsibility and instead it's the 5,000 low-level people, it had nothing to do with the program they set up? mr. curry: i think there is responsibility here. we have a consent order with the o.c.c., the cfpb and with the city of los angeles. senator merkley: i'd like to enter into the evidence a -- an article that lays out these high-pressure cultures that's happened in many financial retail banking groups and i think when the question was asked earlier, mr. curry, you noted that's something you'll be horizontally be looking into, but do any of you have some impression based on what you've seen so far that these practices, at least maybe not to the same degree but these high-sale practices, high-pressure practices did esult in similar creation of fake accounts or adding things to customers they didn't ask for? mr. curry: that will be the focus of our horizontal review. banks are under enormous margin pressure and that coul

mr. stumpf: let me say. rep. merkley: it is yes or no. mr. stumpf: there were 2 million accounts we could not rule out that had a possibility of being authorized. rep. merkley: did you ever disclose the systemic problem of fraudulent accounts to investors? mr. stumpf: it was not a material event. rep. merkley: you brag about the intense ability to get cross-selling and how it would be beneficial, but the problem that came from that strategy, the very problems that dozens and dozens of people have shared their stories about, how it was on the ground, and you can blame them for the ethical lapses, but you never disclosed there was a problem. you signed the reports personally paired didn't you think that that -- personally. it you think that was material? this is our big win, the cross-selling strategy. and not disclosing there was a dark side. mr. stumpf: there was a lot of things our customers do and a lot of businesses we have. this is one ratio. most were off the books. they went on and off in the same corporate having a product they do not n

mr. merkley: mr. president i rise today like many of my colleagues to express frustration and outrage that we are once again considering leaving town without helping the people of flint michigan, without helping people in other communities afflicted by lead poisoning across our nation. it is the height of irresponsibility and it is neglecting our duty as representatives of the american people. it has now been over a year since doctors first reported high levels of lead in children's blood caused by flint's water supply, and nine months of health officials report an increase in cases of legionnaires' disease connected to the city of flint changing its source of water. but still the 100,000 residents of flint are unable to drink the city's water so they're still tied to bottled water for use after use. and up to 12,000 children living in flint now have to live with the specter of what their future might be after being exposed to lead in their water and we know what lead does to developing brain cells. i

mr. merkley's questions. senator merkley's questions. you know, one of the things that we need to do is get a process for generics where we give advice to complicated generics before they come in and send in an application. that's what we negotiate under the prescription drug user fee act for the new drugs. and that's something that there's great interest in. and having a program so that for these complicated things, it isn't just a pill, we can interact with companies and give them advice and tell them what to do. so both this workload -- let's not call it a backload, but our large workload we have now, part of which is inherited from the things that are cycling multiple times, is on everyone's mind. and it's definitely part of our discussions is how to deal with that. >> can you report anything about the status of those negotiations, or is that beyond your -- >> i can say, with the industry, they've concluded, and, obviously, there are many other steps. we'd have to have a public meeting as described in a statute and, of course, we'll

mr. chairman: senator merkley. >> thank you. mr.mpf, did wells fargo create a pressure cooker sales culture that put personal bankers and tellers in a possible situation between a rock and a hard place? mr. stumpf: i do not believe that. you know, the vast majority. rep. merkley: that may continue. you got your answer, thank you. so rita murillo, a branch manager, says, regional bosses required hourly conferences on her florida branch's progress toward daily quotas for opening accounts and selling customers extras, such as overdraft protection, an issue that hasn't been addressed yet. employees who lagged behind had to stay late and work weekends. then came the threats, anyone falling short after two months would be fired. we were constantly told we'd be working for mcdonald's. if we did not make the sales quotas, we had to stay for after school detention, it felt like, or report to a call session on saturdays. is that a pressure culture situation, putting tellers and personal bankers in an impossible situation? mr. stumpf: senator,

mr. chairman. >> senator merkley? >> thank you, mr. stumpf, did wells fargo create a pressure cooker sales culture that put personal bankers and tellers in an impossible situation, between a rock and a hard place? >> i do not believe that. because 98 -- the vast majority -- >> let me continue. i got your answer, thank you. so rita morrilla, a branch manager says "regional bosses required hourly conferences toward daily quotas for opening accounts and selling customers extra such as overdraft protection, an issue that hasn't been addressed yet. employees who lagged behind had to stay late and work weekends. then came the threats. anyone falling short after two months would be fired. we were constantly told we'd be working for mcdonald's. if we didn't make the sales quotas, we had to stay for afterschool detention, it felt like, or report the a call session on saturdays." is that a pressure culture situation? putting tellers and personal bankers in an impossible situation? >> senator, that has no place in our culture. i read that and it

senator merkley: well, thank you very much, mr. chair. and you mentioned, dr.dcock, iat there is a competitor, believe the name is adrenalclick . that competitor also has injectable device, but you also mention that anyone who wishes to compete has to get around the patents, that mylan has. what is the difference in these products, and how much is a barrier on the patent? and does adrenalclick have a patent? somehow wrapped up by these companies? dr. woodcock: we actually have approved five different epinephrine autoinjector. three are not the market right now. i don't know what adrenalclick's patents might look like. we can get back to you on that. we do not know. copiest does not mean cannot be made. it simply means because of the intellectual property rights that they either have to be challenged, or an autoinjector has to be made that performs similarly, but did not use the technology. precisely, what is sound like you're are saying there have been five different approaches that of all been proven -- dr. woodcock: none of them generic. correct. >> adrenalcl

mr. inhofe: i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up en bloc. that would be heller 4981 and merkley 4991. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the amendments. the clerk: the senator from oklahoma, mr. inhofe, proposes four other senators, amendments number 4981 and 4991. mr. inhofe: i ask unanimous consent that the senate now vote on these amendments en bloc. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. inhofe: i know of no further debate on these amendments. the presiding officer: there is no further debate. all those in favor say aye. opposed, nay. the ayes appear to to have t the ayes do have it. the amendments are greed en bloc. -- are agreed to en bloc. mr. mccain: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: madam president, the last few weeks, my home state of arizona has been thrust into the national spotlight. i wish i could say it's because of the success of our sports teams or the strength of our universities. instead, it's because arizona has become ground zero for the co

mr. merkley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: i join with my friend and colleague, senator wyden, to recognize the somber anniversary of the tragedy that struck our home state of oregon a year ago. on october 1, 2015, the town of roseburg was changed forever. roseburg is a quiet, beautiful, small town like so many others across our nation. i spent part of my childhood in roseburg. i was there as a toddler in kindergarten and first grade. it's where i learned to swim in the umpqua river. it's a place where i find it hard to imagine anything terrible happening. community members are so supportive of each other. but something terrible did happen that beautiful autumn day of october 1 when the lives of nine oregonians, students and teachers at umpqua community college were tragically cut short by the actions of a crazed gunman. nine incredible, innocent people taken from us in the blink of an eye mr. president, i want to take a moment to share the names of those nine victims and to say a few words about each. 19-year-old luce