42 U.S. Code § 27. Definitions The terms “State” and “States,” as used in this chapter, shall be held to include the District of Columbia.

If they meant for these words to mean anything other than DC, why did they save ink and not list the places? Contrast this with the Internal Revenue Code, which constitutionally levies excise taxes on petroleum in the States of the Union:

26 U.S. Code § 4612 - Definitions and special rules (a)(4)(A)In general The term “United States” means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any possession of the United States, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

It is a serious matter when federal agencies try to violate private contracts within a State of the Union. It is even more serious when the United States Code never gave an agency jurisdiction within the States of the Union for the specific matter at hand!