Senator Elmer Burkett. a Nebraska Republican. counted only twenty committees of the Senate that actually held hearings. The rest. he observed. were "graveyards to the great body of senators." Graveyards or not. the Senate clung to its nonfunctioning committees as a source of extra patronage and hideaway offices in the Capitol. In 1909. Senator Burkett introduced a resolution to reform the committee structure. By his estimate there were seven powerful committees: Appropriations. Commerce. Finance. Foreign Relations. Interstate Commerce. Judiciary and Rules. Then he counted thirteen secondlevel committees which also conducted business: Agriculture. Indian Affairs. Military Affairs. Naval Affairs. Pensions. PostOffices and PostRoads. Immigration. District of Columbia. Interoceanic Canals.
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Immigration