Speaker. during the election day recess. a bleak anniversary was observed in Minsk. Russia. by the Grigory Hess family. On October 27. 1973. the Hess family first applied for an exit visa to go to Israel to be reunited with their parents. The request was refused. and repeated reapplications have been made in vain. Not only have Grigory. his wife Elena. and their two daughters suffered the frustration of repeated denials of their attempts to leave the Soviet Union to rejoin the rest of their family. but they have been subjected to the regrettably familiar litany of privations and abuses which Soviet officials have heaped on refuseniks. Following denial of their exit visa. Hess lost his job as an engineer. and has had to eke out a living as a construction laborer. further hampered by the fact that each time his status as a refusenik is discovered. he is fired and forced to seek other work. In addition. the Hess phone was disconnected. his children are taunted at school. and his family is subject to accusations by their neighbors of being traitors and enemies of the people.