,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #cdgg  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,december #ae1 
#bjbe,mr4 ,blumenthal introduced the    
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on ,homeland
 ,security and ,governmental ,affairs   
,a ,,bill  ,to exempt humanitarian care 
packages sent to members of the ,armed  
,forces stationed overseas from certain 
postal reporting requirements1 and for  
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,support ,our  
,troops ,shipping ,relief ,act of #bjbe4
  #b4 ,treatment by ,united ,states     
,postal ,service of humanitarian care   
packages sent to members of the ,armed  
,forces stationed overseas  7a7 ,in     
general ,chapter #cd of title #ci1      
,united ,states ,code1 is amended by    
inserting after section #cdja the       
following3  #cdjb4 ,treatment of        
humanitarian care packages sent to      
members of the ,armed ,forces stationed 
overseas  7a7 ,definitions ,in this     

section3 7#a7 ,armed ,forces ,the term  
,armed ,forces has the meaning given    
that term in section #aja7;a7 of title  
#aj4  7#b7 ,covered shipment ,the term  
covered shipment means a shipment that--
 7,a7 is addressed to a military mail   
address or other destination authorized 
by the ,secretary of ,defense2 and  7,b7
 consists of one or more humanitarian   
care packages4  7#c7 ,humanitarian care 
package ,the term humanitarian care     
package means a parcel containing       
donated goods intended solely for the   
comfort1 welfare1 or morale of members  
of the ,armed ,forces at duty stations  
overseas4  7#d7 ,military mail address  
,the term military mail address means an
 ,army ,post ,office 7,,apo71 ,fleet    
,post ,office 7,,fpo71 or ,diplomatic   
,post ,office 7,,dpo7 address designated
 by the ,secretary of ,defense for      
receipt of mail by members of the ,armed
 ,forces stationed overseas4  7b7       
,domestic treatment of military mail    
7#a7 ,in general ,the ,postal ,service  

shall treat any covered shipment as     
domestic mail for all purposes1         
regardless of destination4  7#b7        
,regulations ,not later than #cj days   
after the date of enactment of the      
,support ,our ,troops ,shipping ,relief 
,act of #bjbe1 the ,postmaster ,general 
shall prescribe regulations to carry out
 paragraph 7#a74  7#c7 ,simplified      
customs declaration requirement ,in     
implementing paragraph 7#a71 to the     
extent that the ,postal ,service        
requires a customs declaration form for 
covered shipments1 the ,postal ,service 
shall accept a simplified customs       
declaration form1 which may list        
categories of contents 7such as snack   
foods1 personal hygiene items1 letters  
and cards1 or similar general           
descriptions7 instead of the            
classification under the ,harmonized    
,system or country-of-origin information
 for each article in the shipment4  4   
7b7 ,technical and conforming amendment 
,the table of sections for chapter #cd  

of title #ci1 ,united ,states ,code1 is 
amended by adding at the end the        
following3  #cdjb4 ,treatment of        
humanitarian care packages sent to      
members of the ,armed ,forces stationed 
overseas4  4