A New York representative speaking to the House Foreign Affairs Committee urged the body to modernize status-of-forces agreements (SOFAs) to ensure U.S. service members receive basic procedural protections abroad and pressed for accountability in a decades-old case in Serbia.

The member said SOFAs should guarantee rights such as prompt access to counsel, interpreters and protection from prolonged pretrial detention. He cited the case of Navy lieutenant Ridge Alconis, who, the representative said, suffered a medical emergency while driving in Japan in 2021 and later faced detention and prosecution without what the lawmaker described as adequate medical evaluation.

"We need this body to hold the State Department accountable for standing up for our service members," the representative said, urging the committee to pursue transparency and reforms in how SOFAs are negotiated and enforced.

He also discussed H.Con.Res. 41, a resolution calling for Serbian cooperation and accountability for the 1999 execution of three U.S. citizens (the Battici brothers). The member urged diplomats and members of Congress to keep the case prominent in bilateral discussions and to use bipartisan resolutions and letters to press Serbia for cooperation.

The committee asked for follow-up on legislative language and oversight steps; no votes or formal motions were recorded.