[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] the committee will come to order. without objection, the chairs declared a recess of the committee at any time. as a reminder to all members, have a stop at 1:30 p.m. members able to ask questions at today s hearing will be given priority in our next hearing with the secretary. pursuant to house rules, the committee will continue to provide accommodations for the members who request to participate in hearings virtually but i am happy to have the vast majority of our members and when is participating in person here today. as a reminder, those not fully vaccinated continue to wear a mask in the hearing room and practice social distancing but i would also like to encourage our members to continue wearing masks if they feel more comfortable doing so. members, we have a little bit of a problem with our timing apparatus this morning. we can see the timing here when you re five minutes are up. our witness can for five minutes and
aides, hicks and donaldson. abigail: thinking about volatility, not necessarily just the vix, which just closed at the lowest level in two weeks, the fear index. this is a chart of the nasdaq 100, one-day moves. last september relatively small moves, to the downside, which proceeded huge volatility throughout the fourth quarter. volatility tends to breed volatility, both to the downside as investors become fearful and the but buy the dip exuberance. the s&p 500 taking the stairs up. more recently, lots of over 1% moves over the last seven days. seven greater than 1% moves, suggesting volatility might breed more volatility both up and down. so a good time to fasten the seatbelts. toah: as investors get ready fasten seatbelts, we also see increased hedging, especially in the tech space. looking at put the call volume on the etf tracking the philadelphia semiconductor index, just yesterday we saw 24 bearish put trades for everything a bullish call. you can see the spike. so
richardson talks about navel operation answers maritime security. next, agriculture secretary tom vilsack talks about the biobased industry and its impact on the economy and talks about how the industry creating jobs for rural america. from the national press club, this is an hour. [ applause ] tom vilsack, a pittsburgh native and former governor of iowa is the only original member of president barack obama s cabinet still serving in the administration and he hasn t been quiet about food or politics. vilsack recently ran for the white house in the 2008 presidential race and was considered by hillary clinton as a potential running mate during election cycle. he endorsed clinton in 2008 and 2016. campaigning for her in the crucial state of iowa. earlier this year, appearing on nbc s meet the press, comparing donald trump to bern made off. at the usda, secretary vilsack has a vast po
certainly my state as well. this also represents a milestone as members of this committee work to complete a multiyear highway bill the first time in a decade. and long overdue. with service transportation programs set to expire on friday, it is imperative we work quickly to reach a bipartisan and by cbicamybicameral agreeme. a number of issues happened to be particularly important to my state. for example, upgrading the freight corridors and interstate system that moved goods through my state to global markets every day and providing additional resources for public/private partnerships and border infrastructure. delivering investment certainty so we can plan for and deliver the high-quality infrastructure that our country and my constituents deserve. this bill is important. but i m proud to say the leadership in texas haven t waited on the federal government. in november 2014, 80% of texans approved a ballot initiative that provides $1.7 billion to upgrade and maintain the t
that could have as much effect as mr. cummings just said on future generations. yet how little attention it gets when we actually do our job. especially on a subject like there. i think it is appropriate at times that we all rightfully argue about how big or small the federal government should be. but i think we all share a common belief that whatever side the government should be, the dollars that we spend, we need to make sure are spent wisely. and one of the things i want to again commend you and the ranking member on, as a former governor, often the difference between a governor and legislator was a legislator thought the job was over once the bill was passed when in actual ality, it is the implementation is where the rubber hits the road. and hearing what both of you have said and i know my friend senator portman shares this as well, we will keep common cause to make sure that implementation takes place in a timely, effective and efficient manner. as we went into some of