H.Con.Res. 45House117th Congress (2021-2023)Passed House

Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the execution-style murders of United States citizens Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi in the Republic of Serbia in July 1999.

AI-Generated Summary

Updated February 8, 2026 at 5:56 AM UTC

This concurrent resolution expresses Congress’s view that the Serbian authorities should investigate and prosecute the individuals responsible for the 1999 execution‑style murders of three U.S. citizens, the Bytyqi brothers. It calls on Serbia to prioritize the case, urges the United States to provide assistance and monitoring, and links progress on the case to the overall U.S.–Serbia relationship.

Key Provisions

Calls for those responsible for the Bytyqi brothers’ murders to be brought to justice
Condemns that no one has been convicted for the killings
Urges the Serbian government and its war‑crimes office to prioritize investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators
Requests the United States allocate resources to assist and monitor Serbia’s efforts
States that progress—or lack thereof—should influence future U.S.–Serbia relations

Legislative Activity

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13 earlier actions

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Foreign Relations Committee

July 18, 2022

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

July 29, 2021

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Foreign Affairs Committee

July 29, 2021

HouseCommittee

Referred to the Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber.

Europe Subcommittee

August 4, 2021

HouseCommittee

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.

Foreign Affairs Committee

September 30, 2021

HouseCommittee

Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote.

Foreign Affairs Committee

September 30, 2021

HouseFloor

Ms. Manning moved to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution.

June 21, 2022 • 4:32 PM

HouseFloor

Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5713-5714)

June 21, 2022 • 4:32 PM

HouseFloor

DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H. Con. Res. 45.

June 21, 2022 • 4:33 PM

HouseFloor

At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.

June 21, 2022 • 4:39 PM

HouseFloor

Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H6608)

July 14, 2022 • 6:22 PM

HouseFloor

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 423 - 1 (Roll no. 354).

View vote Passed

July 14, 2022 • 6:30 PM

HouseFloor

On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 423 - 1 (Roll no. 354). (text: 06/21/2022 CR H5713-5714)

View vote Passed

July 14, 2022 • 6:30 PM

HouseFloor

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

July 14, 2022 • 6:30 PM

SenateIntro Referral

Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Foreign Relations Committee

July 18, 2022

Voting History

1 vote recorded • Roll call available

HOUSE

Roll Call Available

July 14, 2022 at 6:26 PM

On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree to the Resolution

Majority required: 2/3 (66.7%)

Passed

423 - 1

Floor Debate

3 members

What members said about H.Con.Res. 45 on the floor

2 Republicans1 Democrat

Rep. Kathy E. ManningD-NC-6 · Jun 21, 2022

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 45) expressing the sense of Congress regarding the execution-style murders of United States citizens…

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 45) expressing the sense of Congress regarding the execution-style murders of United States citizens Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi in the Republic of Serbia in July 1999.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Con. Res. 45.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 45, a resolution condemning the execution-style murders of the U.S. citizen Bytyqi brothers in the Republic of Serbia in July 1999.

Let me start by thanking Representative Lee Zeldin for his bipartisan work in bringing their murderers to justice.

These three brave brothers, whose family hails from what is now Kosovo, were simply trying to help a Romanian family find safety outside Kosovo when they were trapped at an unmarked administrative border. After 15 days of jail, the brothers were taken by a special operations unit of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, where they lost their lives at the hands of Serbian officials.

The brothers were in their early twenties. Their bodies were not found until 2 years later, buried atop a mass grave of Kosovo civilians. In the 23 years since, the United States has been promised that justice will be delivered, yet not one person has been found guilty of their murder.

This measure would call on the Serbian Government to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of their murders, and on the United States to devote the resources necessary to assist in bringing them to justice.

The 116th Congress passed this resolution, and it is my hope that this Congress does the same. These three young men deserve justice and accountability.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res. 45 will ensure that the United States is doing everything in our power to bring the murderers of United States citizens Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi to justice.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Lee Zeldin for his leadership on this resolution, and I urge my colleagues to join us by voting in the affirmative.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Rep. Young KimR-CA-39 · Jun 21, 2022

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 45. I thank Representative Zeldin for championing this important resolution. As the world…

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 45. I thank Representative Zeldin for championing this important resolution.

As the world focuses on the horrors of the war crimes being committed by Vladimir Putin's invading forces in Ukraine, we must not forget the victims of the past war crimes still awaiting justice.

Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi were three American brothers from New York State who are suspected of having been killed in July 1999 by Serbian authorities. After disappearing while in the custody of Serbian special police, they were executed, shot in the head with their hands tied behind their backs. Their bodies were later discovered in a mass grave at a training compound of the Serbian secret police.

Tragically, nearly 23 years later, there has still not been a full investigation into their deaths, and the Bytyqi brothers' murderers have yet to be brought to justice. This is unacceptable.

This case, among others, illustrates the continued need for Serbia to resolve outstanding war crimes investigations. Holding accountable those who committed and covered up the murder of the Bytyqi brothers is critical to continuing bilateral relations between the United States and Belgrade.

Therefore, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution. Congress must be on the record calling on Serbian authorities to once and for all deliver justice for the Bytyqi brothers and their family.

Mr. Speaker, 23 years is too long for the Bytyqi brothers and their family to go without justice.

Seriously dealing with the past and bringing justice to all victims of war crimes committed in the wars that followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia is needed to ensure reconciliation and peace throughout the region.

Mr. Zeldin reintroduced this bipartisan resolution last year. I urge Belgrade to commit to a proper investigation and full accountability for these three Americans so this resolution does not have to be reintroduced once again next Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Rep. Michael CloudR-TX-27 · Jun 21, 2022

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Bill Text

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Referred in SenateIssued July 18, 2022

III

117th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. CON. RES. 45

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

July 18, 2022

Received; referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the execution-style murders of United States citizens Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi in the Republic of Serbia in July 1999.

Whereas brothers Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi were citizens of the United States, born in Chicago, Illinois, to ethnic Albanian parents from what is today the Republic of Kosovo, and who subsequently lived in Hampton Bays, New York;

Whereas the three Bytyqi brothers responded to the brutality of the conflict associated with Kosovo’s

separation from the Republic of Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of which Serbia was a constituent republic by joining the so-called Atlantic Brigade of the Kosovo Liberation Army in April 1999;

Whereas a Military-Technical Agreement between the Government of Yugoslavia and the North Atlantic Council came into effect on June 10, 1999, leading to a cessation of hostilities;

Whereas the Bytyqi brothers were arrested on June 23, 1999, by Serbian police within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia when the brothers accidently crossed what was then an unmarked administrative border while escorting an ethnic Romani family who had been neighbors to safety outside Kosovo;

Whereas the Bytyqi brothers were jailed for 15 days for illegal entry into the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in Prokuplje, Serbia, until a judge ordered their release on July 8, 1999;

Whereas, instead of being released, the Bytyqi brothers were taken by a special operations unit of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs to a training facility near Petrovo Selo, Serbia, where all three were executed;

Whereas, at the time of their murders, Ylli was 25, Agron was 23, and Mehmet was 21 years of age;

Whereas Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was removed from office on October 5, 2000, following massive demonstrations protesting his refusal to acknowledge and accept election results the month before;

Whereas, in the following years, the political leadership of Serbia has worked to strengthen democratic institutions, to develop stronger adherence to the rule of law, and to ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia evolved into a State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in February 2003, which itself dissolved when both republics proclaimed their respective independence in June 2006;

Whereas the United States Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, was informed on July 17, 2001, that the bodies of Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi were found with their hands bound and gunshot wounds to the back of their heads, buried atop an earlier mass grave of approximately 70 bodies of murdered civilians from Kosovo;

Whereas Serbian authorities subsequently investigated but never charged those individuals who were part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs chain of command related to this crime, including former Minister of Internal Affairs Vlajko Stojilkovic, Assistant Minister and Chief of the Public Security Department Vlastimir Djordjevic, and special operations training camp commander Goran Guri Radosavljevic;

Whereas Vlajko Stojilkovic died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in April 2002 prior to being transferred to the custody of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia where he had been charged with crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war during the Kosovo conflict;

Whereas Vlastimir Djordjevic was arrested and transferred to the custody of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in June 2007, and sentenced in February 2011 to 27 years imprisonment (later reduced to 18 years) for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war committed during the Kosovo conflict;

Whereas Goran Guri Radosavljevic is reported to reside in Serbia, working as director of a security consulting firm in Belgrade, and is a prominent member of the governing political party;

Whereas the Secretary of State designated Goran Radosavljevic of Serbia under section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2018 as ineligible for entry into the United States due to his involvement in gross violations of human rights;

Whereas two Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs officers, Sretan Popovic and Milos Stojanovic, were charged in 2006 for crimes associated with their involvement in the detention and transport of the Bytyqi brothers from Prokuplje to Petrovo Selo, but acquitted in May 2012 with an appeals court confirming the verdict in March 2013;

Whereas the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic promised several high ranking United States officials to deliver justice in the cases of the deaths of Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi;

Whereas no individual has ever been found guilty for the murders of Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi or of any other crimes associated with their deaths; and

Whereas no individual is currently facing criminal charges regarding the murder of the Bytyqi brothers despite many promises by Serbian officials to resolve the case: Now, therefore, be it

That it is the sense of Congress that—

(1)

those individuals responsible for the murders in July 1999 of United States citizens Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi in Serbia should be brought to justice;

(2)

it is reprehensible that no individual has ever been found guilty for executing the Bytyqi brothers, or of any other crimes associated with their deaths, and that no individual is even facing charges for these horrible crimes;

(3)

the Government of Serbia and its relevant ministries and offices, including the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office, should make it a priority to investigate and prosecute as soon as possible those current or former officials believed to be responsible for their deaths, directly or indirectly;

(4)

the United States should devote sufficient resources to fully assist and properly monitor efforts by the Government of Serbia and its relevant ministries and offices to investigate and prosecute as soon as possible those individuals believed to be responsible for their deaths, directly or indirectly; and

(5)

progress in resolving this case, or the lack thereof, should remain a significant factor determining the further development of relations between the United States and the Republic of Serbia.

Passed the House of Representatives July 14, 2022.

Cheryl L. Johnson,

Clerk.