Article I Section 8 of the Constitution for the United States of America begins with these words: The Congress shall have Power . . . Clause 17 continues with: To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; The upshot of this language is: Outside Washington, D.C., any lands held by the central body of the federal government must be defense-related or a post office. An excellent 54-minute presentation of what powers Congress has (and doesn't have) can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAUwrz3wmpY Whether the un-ratified treaty was even Constitutional is in question. If the Constitution does not grant the central body a certain power, it cannot get that power except through Constitutional amendment. It cannot pass a treaty "under the authority of the United States" that exceeds the power of "the United States". The central body of the federal government is precluded from using a treaty to "write its own ticket" by the phrase "under the authority of the United States" in the supremacy clause. Even if ratification of that treaty was Constitutional, giving it force of law even though it's not ratified is clearly UN-Constitutional. DC Treybil