MCKEON REACHES OUT TO LATINOS; REPUBLICANS MUST REVERSE ALIENATION, CONGRESSMAN SAYS.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer

U.S. Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon told Latino leaders that the Republican Party must do more to attract Latinos into its ranks.

During a 80-minute talk Wednesday evening to more than 30 leaders of Antelope Valley Latino groups, McKeon said Latinos largely share pro-family, anti-abortion beliefs with Republicans, but that GOP policies have alienated them.

``I tell my colleagues, I can't think of what else we could do to drive Hispanics out of the party,'' McKeon said. ``I don't think a lot of them understand,'' adding, in a plug for the GOP presidential hopeful he supports, ``I think George Bush understands.''

McKeon advised his audience to invite Republican lawmakers to speak, to communicate their principles and desires for legislation to Republican lawmakers, and to demonstrate that they can produce votes.

He pointed to the example of conservative Christians, who in the 1980s stepped up their political activism and gained clout as a result.

``They have gotten very organized and elected people starting at the school board and city council level,'' the Santa Clarita congressman said.

At the request of attorney Richard Loa, who said Latinos often miss out on help available from the government, McKeon agreed to arrange for a Small Business Administration representative to speak in the Antelope Valley about SBA loans and other programs.

But McKeon stopped short of agreeing to another request that came from his audience: Latinos for Social Justice/Mexican American Political Association leader George Salas's request for an investigation into whether Antelope Valley schools are shunting too many Latino youngsters into alternative education as academic and disciplinary problems.

McKeon said he is philosophically opposed to federal involvement in education, which he sees as a local jurisdiction.

``So stepping up as a congressman and calling for an investigation into a local school district, I don't see that as my role,'' McKeon said.

But, at a further suggestion from Salas about federal funding for schools, McKeon agreed to look into information that the Latino leaders obtain about the alternative schools' student body compositions.

``You brought out something we can look at,'' the congressman said.

Latino leaders said they were pleased at McKeon's visit to the gathering, held in Eduardo's Restaurant in Palmdale and involving the AV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Latin American Club and Latinos for Social Justice/Mexican American Political Association.

``I think it something we don't even realize: the Hispanic presence has blossomed in Antelope Valley the last couple of years in terms of getting better organized,'' said Sandy Corrales, the Hispanic chamber's public relations director as well as a past Palmdale Chamber of Commerce president. ``You finally have a forum, a venue to communicate especially with the Hispanic community. I think we see this as a two-way street.''