mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman from south carolina ( mr. spratt )  for presenting a budget that has a better vision for the american people , and for the gentleman 's hard work that he does for the american people .  mr. chairman , this is the third year that i have been in the congress .  there has been a similar routine every year i have been here .  we debate the budget and our side says it is a statement of our values , and we say it is a statement of who we are .  i would add one observation to that .  this is a process that tells us a great deal about whether we are who we say we are , because there is an irony that i see with my friends from the other side of the aisle .  as we move into the year and move into the holiday season , we spend a lot of time talking about shared benevolence , but they will pass a budget tomorrow that will cut $ 5 billion from food stamps , and only 2 percent of people who are eligible receive food stamps .  it is not a program filled with waste and fraud .  a lot of our friends on the other side of the aisle will talk about benevolence and their belief in families and families having strong values , and yet they will vote tomorrow night to cut child care assistance .  a lot of our friends on the other side of the aisle will talk about cutting taxes , and yet they will vote tomorrow night to raise taxes on people receiving the earned income tax credit .  and the other side of the aisle will talk about their belief in social security and their faith in that program and their refusal to touch it , and then they will cut ssi payments which are a major part of social security .  a lot of our friends on the other side of the aisle will talk about their commitment to housing , and then they will vote to eliminate one of the most effective housing programs in this country .  and finally , a lot of our friends on the other side of the aisle will talk about their commitment to children and helping families raise their children with the right values , and then they will vote to freeze or leave virtually frozen child care services and day care services .  i am not one who likes to call names , but the word `` hypocrisy '' means you say one thing and you blatantly endorse another set of practices .  this is a debate about exactly who we will ask to sacrifice in this country .  there is no question we have asked our veterans to sacrifice an enormous amount , and they belong in a category of their own ; but there is another class of americans who we also ask to sacrifice in this budget .  we ask the most vulnerable people , the people in our society who are working and living by the sweat of their brow every day .  we ask them to give up so much in this budget , and there is an irony because we have heard it said by the chairman and various other members on the other side of the aisle , we have heard it said that people want these tax cuts and they will trade these programs off for the prevalence and the prevailing of these tax cuts .  but here is the problem .  the average people that will receive the cuts that i described got a tax cut of $ 28 to $ 35 a month .  that is not an equitable trade-off ; that is not a fair trade-off .  i simply end by saying the spratt budget presents a better vision for the american people and introduces a six-letter word into this debate that we have not heard all day , a word called `` equity. '' that is what separates our approach from theirs .  