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24 UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRIcr OF COLUMBIA LAW REVIEWgress to avoid dealing with local legislation. 1s6 Moreover, once statehood isgranted, it cannot be taken away.1S7The area within the District proposed for the state are residential neighborhoods.1sS It would not include certain federal buildings or national monuments.189 Nothing requires the Seat of Government to be larger than thatproposed,190 so reduction to this area seems appropriate. 191Opponents argue that making the District a state would destroy the originalconcept of the Seat of Government being independent from any state. 192 Indeed,the U.S. Department of Justice presented an extensive legal memorandum thatremains conservative dogma. 193 Some are concerned that the Seat of Governmentwould be surrounded by one state that may exert its influence over thefederal government. 194 As it stands, Maryland generally surrounds the current186 Indeed in passing the Home Rule Act, Congress indicated that its purpose was to relieveCongress of the burden of legislating for the District of Columbia. District of Columbia Self-Governmentand Governmental Reorganization Act, Pub. L. No. 93-198, § 102(A), 87 Stat. 774 (1973) [hereinafterGovernmental Reorganization Act].187 See If You Favor Freedom, supra note 3, (emphasis added) (providing a good examinationof many of the issues surrounding D.C. Statehood).188 New Columbia Admission Act, H.R. 51, looth Congo § 16 (1987).189 Those edifices are distinctly federal in nature and that character should not be destroyed.When Congress uses its exclusive control over the District to reduce the size of the federal district andto create the territory of New Columbia, Congress can then use its constitutional power under ArticleIV, Section 3 to admit that land area into the Union. U.S. CONST., art. IV, § 3.190 U.S. CONST., art. I, § 8, cl. 17. The seat of Government shall "not [exceed] ten milessquare." [d. Obviously, it can be less than that as it is now, with the return of part of D.C. to Virginiaby Act of Congress in 1846. Act of July 9, 1846, ch. 35, § 1,9 Stat. 35 (as amended at 29 Congo ch. 35)(providing for the retrocession of the County of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, to the Stateof Virginia).191 Indeed Congress defined and adopted the boundaries for this reduced Federal Enclavewhen it passed the District of Columbia Self Government and Governmental reorganization Act. SeeSec. 739 of Pub. L. No. 93-198 (1973). Referred to as the National Capital Service Area, it will becomethe District of Columbia, consisting of the Mall and the principal federal monuments, the WhiteHouse, the Capitol Building, the United States Supreme Court Building and the Federal Office Buildingsadjacent to the Mall, housing the offices of the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Id.192 R. HEWITT PATE, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION, D.C. STATEHOOD: NOT WITHOUT A CON­STITUTIONAL AMENDMENT (1983), https:/Iwww.policyarchive.orglbitstreamlhandlell02071l2663/92076_1.pdf?sequence= 1.193 See OFF. OF LEGAL POLICY, U.S. DEP'T. OF JUSTICE, REPORT TO THE ATTORNEY GEN­ERAL: THE QUESTION OF STATEHOOD FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (1987) [hereinafter REPORTTO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL]. This report continues to be cited as authority by opponents of D.C.Statehood and was most recently cited during the Davis Hearings by Judge Kenneth Starr and also aspart of the follow-up study by Professor Viet Dinh. See also VIET D. DINH & ADAM H. CHARNES,REPORT TO THE HOUSE COMM. ON GOVT. REFORM ON THE AUTHORITY OF CONGRESS TO ENACTLEGISLATION TO PROVIDE THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA WITH VOTING REPRESENTATION IN THEHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 108th Cong., 2d Sess. 2 (2004) [hereinafter DINH & CHARNES].194 See REPORT TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, supra note 193, at 25-27,56-58.