[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 19, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H1960]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING SUNIL AGHI

  (Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
remember and honor my good friend, Mr. Sunil Aghi, or Sunny, as he was 
known by most people.
  I first met Sunny when I received a phone call one morning during my 
first campaign for Congress. Sunny introduced himself. He said that he 
was Indian; and since my campaign was a campaign of the people, he 
wanted to get his people, the Indian community, to come and help me 
win.
  When he said Indian, I thought he meant headdress and Native 
American; but what he meant was the Indo-American community, those who 
were from India.
  Sunny had such energy. He was a leading Indo-American in the 
political arena. He was a one-man show, putting together fund-raisers, 
hosting dozens of Congresspeople and Senators, spreading the message of 
democracy. He believed in democracy and teaching many of us about 
India, the world's largest democracy.
  Sunny passed away last week, survived by his wife, Dimple, and his 
three young children. And he was young. But as someone said, he managed 
to wrap many of us here in the Congress and at other State and local 
levels, people who represent people, he managed to wrap us as a sari 
does, in his Indian-ness. Thank you, Sunny, for your life and the life 
you gave to others.

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