 From 1919 to 1923, he was served as the House Republican Conference Chairman.He was the co-author (with Texas Senator Morris Sheppard) of the first federal law to offer matching federal funds for social welfare or to offer grants-in-aid to states for health purposes.That law, known as the Sheppard-Towner Act or the Maternity and Infant Act, was designed to lower the United States' relatively high rates of infant mortality, and established maternal and child health services in each state.