mr. chairman , i yield myself 3 minutes . 
mr. chairman , i thank the gentlemen for their kind words . 
if you listened to them , it would make it sound like we have the same budget , but i want to assure you and our colleagues that that is not the case . 
and i want to assure you that by the end of this debate , you are going to know what the differences are . 
we set out at the beginning of this congress to set an agenda for the congressional black caucus . 
our agenda is about closing disparities that exist between african american citizens and other citizens in this country and have persisted over time . 
they involve closing the achievement and opportunity gaps in education , closing the gaps in health care for every american , closing the gaps in employment and economic security in wealth and business opportunity in our country , closing the gaps that continue to exist in our justice system , closing the gaps that continue to exist in retirement security for our citizens , and closing the inequities that have persisted throughout our history in foreign policy . 
is it true that we have a different set of priorities ? 
you bet we do . 
to close these disparities , we have set a different course , and we decided that it was more important to devote resources to closing these gaps and closing these disparities than it was to give a tax cut to people who make above $ 200 , 000 a year . 
we decided that these priorities were more important than continuing to fund a ballistic missile defense program that has already failed every single test that it has undergone . 
we believe that the education of our children is more important than tax cuts for people over $ 200 , 000 . 
i am not here to make any excuses about that . 
i want every member of this congress to understand that that is a choice that we have made and that is a choice that we are calling on this congress to make . 
the people in my district who make over $ 200 , 000 a year have told me that they would rather educate our children and fully fund no child left behind than they would have a tax cut . 
so this is a question of what your priorities are , no ifs , ands , buts about it . 
that is what you will be voting on today . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
