H.R. 6216

[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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