In early March. over 170 of my colleagues in this House joined with me in sending an urgent appeal to the General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. Constantin Chernenko. We wrote in an effort to secure adequate medical care for Yelena Bonner. wife of Nobel Laureate Andrei Sakharov. Mrs. Sakharovs condition is well known to many. She has suffered several heart attacks. and is in need of a critical eye operation. Now. however. news comes from Gorkiwhere her husband is in exilethat Andrei Sakharov has begun a hunger strike to secure an exit visa for his wife. Last Thursday. I joined several of my colleagues from this House and from the other body outside the Soviet Embassy here in Washington to express our solidarity with Dr.