[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 159 (Friday, October 4, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1252-E1253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         REMEMBERING SANDEEP DHALIWAL, HOUSTON, TEXAN AND HERO

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 4, 2019

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a hero, a 
Deputy with the Harris County Sheriff's Department, Deputy Sandeep 
Dhaliwal.
  Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal was a Houston resident and public servant who 
died while in the line of duty on September 27, 2019, in Houston, 
Texas, at the age of 42.
  Sandeep Dhaliwal was a trailblazer for the Sheriff's Department of 
which he served in for a decade.
  Sandeep Dhaliwal was the first member of the Sikh community to become 
a Harris County Sheriff's deputy.
  In the Sikh religion, men and women do not cut their hair; they cover 
their head with turbans.
  Out of piety, the men refrain from shaving their beards.
  Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal garnered national attention in 2015, after 
the sheriff's office allowed him to wear his traditional articles of 
faith, including a turban and a beard, while on patrol.
  Sandeep educated us as a city and county and taught us all about the 
humility and beauty of the Sikh faith.
  Through his example and grace, Sandeep Dhaliwal taught of the virtues 
and symbolic power of the turban and stood as a bulwark against the 
nasty racism that has been visited on Sikhs.
  Even more notable, the Harris County Sheriff's Office was the largest 
in the country to have a full-time Sikh American officer with his 
articles of faith intact due to a religious accommodation exception to 
their dress code policy.
  On the afternoon of September 27, 2019, Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal 
pulled over a silver Nissan Altima for a routine traffic stop on 
Willancy Court near Cypress.
  After speaking with the driver, Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal turned to 
walk back to his patrol car, the driver got out of the vehicle and ran 
at the Deputy shooting him twice from behind in the head.
  The shooter, then returned to his car, driving away.
  Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal died after being airlifted to a hospital.
  The assailant had a violent past and was convicted of two felonies in 
2002 for an episode in which he shot a man and then barricaded himself 
in his home with his 4-year-old son, with an intent to use him as a 
shield.

[[Page E1253]]

  The assailant was sentenced to 20 years in jail but served only 12 
years before getting out on parole in 2014.
  In January of 2017, a warrant was issued for parole violations of 
assault and possession of a prohibited weapon, the warrant was still 
active Friday when Sandeep Dhaliwal pulled him over.
  Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal was a hero to many through his actions, 
organizing a tractor-trailer of supplies to be delivered from 
California after Hurricane Harvey, and had traveled to Puerto Rico to 
help a colleague with hurricane relief efforts there.
  Prior to serving as a law enforcement officer, Sandeep Dhaliwal owned 
a successful trucking business.
  Sandeep believed that the Harris County Sheriff's Office needed 
someone to build bridges with the Sikh community, so he sold his 
business and took a lower paying job.
  Sandeep Dhaliwal represented the community's diversity and 
inclusiveness well, as a practicing Sikh he embodied the articles of 
faith, equality, service, and justice while serving in his position.
  I attended the candlelight vigil held in his honor the day after his 
tragic death.
  The vigil was not just a moment to remember the bravery of Deputy 
Sandeep Dhaliwal, it was also a moment for our community to remember 
the impact he had on our civic life and the decency he had for his 
fellow man.
  This is because the site of the vigil was named after another fallen 
officer, Deputy Darren Goforth, based, in part, on Deputy Sandeep 
Dhaliwal's advocacy.
  The impact made by Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal, during his short time 
with us, has been profound, and it compelled me to come to offer 
condolences to the Sikh National Center, the Gurudwara where Sandeep 
Dhaliwal's family worships and where I was honored to recognize him for 
his kindness, strength, service, and involvement in the community.
  It was important for Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal's family to know that 
America mourns with the Dhaliwal Family.
  America is a place of justice and she will not rest until justice 
comes to the Sikhs of America.
  Sandeep Dhaliwal was more than a public servant, he was an 
outstanding member of the community, a hero to many, a loving husband, 
and a father to three.
  Sandeep Dhaliwal will forever be in the hearts and memory of so many 
he touched.
  My heart breaks for his family and loved ones. I offer my deepest 
condolences as they mourn his loss.

                          ____________________