[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6216 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6216
To exempt nonprofit organizations sending humanitarian care packages to
members of the Armed Forces stationed overseas from certain tariff and
postal reporting requirements, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 20, 2025
Mr. Moulton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To exempt nonprofit organizations sending humanitarian care packages to
members of the Armed Forces stationed overseas from certain tariff and
postal reporting requirements, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Support Our Troops Shipping Relief
Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Nonprofit organizations, such as Operation Troop
Support in Danvers, Massachusetts, have shipped millions of
care packages to members of the United States Armed Forces
deployed overseas, containing comfort items, personal supplies,
and messages of encouragement.
(2) Recent Customs and postal reporting requirements--such
as the need to list six-digit Harmonized System codes and item-
by-item country-of-origin data--were designed for commercial
trade, not humanitarian parcels, and have unintentionally
restricted the ability of volunteer organizations to send
morale-support shipments abroad.
(3) These burdens have led to delays, returned packages,
and significant cost increases for nonprofits relying on
donations and volunteers.
(4) Congress therefore intends to exempt qualified
nonprofit troop-support organizations from unnecessary tariff
and reporting requirements and to direct relevant agencies to
simplify their documentation standards.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to remove unnecessary
Customs barriers that hinder the ability of nonprofit organizations to
send humanitarian care packages to members of the United States Armed
Forces serving overseas.
SEC. 3. EXEMPTION UNDER THE TARIFF ACT OF 1930 FOR HUMANITARIAN CARE
PACKAGES FOR ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL SENT BY QUALIFIED
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.
The Tariff Act of 1930 is amended by inserting after section 321
(19 U.S.C. 1321) the following:
``SEC. 321A. EXEMPTION FOR HUMANITARIAN CARE PACKAGES FOR ARMED FORCES
PERSONNEL SENT BY QUALIFIED NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.
``(a) Exemption Established.--A shipment that meets the
requirements of this section shall be exempt from--
``(1) any tariff or duty otherwise applicable under any
provision of law; and
``(2) any requirement to provide--
``(A) individual Harmonized System classification
codes;
``(B) country-of-origin declarations; or
``(C) commercial invoices.
``(b) Eligible Shipments.--A shipment shall qualify for the
exemption under subsection (a) if--
``(1) it originates from a qualified nonprofit
organization;
``(2) it is addressed to a military mail address or other
destination authorized by the Department of Defense; and
``(3) the declared contents are humanitarian care packages
as defined in section 3 of the Support Our Troops Shipping
Relief Act of 2025.
``(c) Rules of Construction.--
``(1) In general.--Nothing in this section may be construed
to limit security screening or inspection authority under any
other provision of law.
``(2) Additional rule.--To the extent this section is
determined to be inconsistent with Universal Postal Union
requirements or a Status of Forces Agreement negotiated by the
Department of Defense, enforcement of any violation of this
section shall be delayed until on or after January 31, 2027.
``(d) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) the term ``Armed Forces'' has the meaning given that
term in section 101(a)(4) of title 10, United States Code;
``(2) the term ``humanitarian care package'' means a parcel
containing donated goods intended solely for the comfort,
welfare, or morale of Armed Forces personnel stationed outside
the continental United States;
``(3) the term ``qualified nonprofit organization'' means
an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section
501(a) of that Code that primarily supports United States
service members or veterans; and
``(4) the term ``military mail address'' means an Army Post
Office (APO), Fleet Post Office (FPO), or Diplomatic Post
Office (DPO) address designated by the Department of Defense
for receipt of mail by United States Armed Forces personnel
abroad.''.
SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION BY THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE AND U.S.
CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION.
(a) Domestic Treatment of Military Mail.--The United States Postal
Service shall treat any shipment that meets the requirements of section
321A of the Tariff Act of 1930, as added by section 4, as domestic mail
for all rate, tariff, and customs purposes, regardless of destination.
(b) Joint Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Postmaster General and the Secretary of
the Treasury (acting through the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and
Border Protection) shall jointly issue regulations to carry out this
section.
(c) Simplified Manifest Requirement.--In implementing this section,
the United States Postal Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection
shall accept simplified manifests for any shipments that meets the
requirements of section 321A of the Tariff Act of 1930, as added by
section 4, which may list categories of contents (such as ``snack
foods,'' ``personal hygiene items,'' ``letters and cards,'' or similar
general descriptions) in lieu of individual Harmonized System codes or
country-of-origin information for each item.
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