 The first major congressional debate in which Rowan participated was over the election of William McCreery as representative from Baltimore , Maryland . Joshua Barney , McCreery 's opponent in the election , claimed that McCreery did not meet a requirement in the Maryland Constitution that a representative live in the district from which he was elected for twelve months prior to the election . McCreery admitted that he had moved from Baltimore to the country prior to the election but claimed that he still owned his home in Baltimore and lived there during the winter months . A resolution was introduced to declare McCreery the duly elected representative from Baltimore , and an amendment was added to clarify that the grounds upon which the resolution was based were that McCreery had not abandoned his Baltimore home . Despite his support for states ' rights , Rowan opposed the amendment because he felt that state sovereignty was only made possible by national sovereignty and that the national legislature had the right to declare a state law unconstitutional . By giving another reason for declaring McCreery duly elected , Rowan felt this issue would be obscured . The amendment was defeated by a vote of 92 – 8 , and the resolution to declare McCreery duly elected passed 89 – 18 . 
