Hispanic group gives Hillary a standing ovation

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/07/18/national/w133246D52.DTL

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said Monday the "achievement gap is beginning to close" between Hispanic and white students, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton countered that she's not convinced the federal government is doing enough to help Hispanic youth get through school.

Spellings and Clinton each spoke at the convention of the National Council of La Raza, a four-day event that ends Tuesday.

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Linda L. Silva, a Democratic organizer and advocate for Latinos in Concord County, Pa., stood with hundreds of others to applaud Clinton, particularly when the senator called for policy changes that would allow undocumented immigrant students to receive college aid. Silva said she hopes to see Clinton enter the race for president in 2008. "There's no one else in America who has more integrity today," she said. The welcome for Spellings was more muted.

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Minutes after the speeches ended, eight people who said they want tighter controls on immigration walked into the Pennsylvania Convention Center where the meeting is being held wearing T-shirts and caps saying "U.S. Border Patrol," said Cecilia Munoz, vice president of La Raza. They were escorted from the building without incident, Munoz said.