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-3- ticable at the next meeting of the Executive Board or the next convention, whichever first occurred. The Committee proceeded immediately to carry out the instructions of the Executive Board. Members of Congress were called on; questionnaires were formulated and distributed. The slow rate of the return of the questionnaires, however, the entire collection of data not being completed until February, 1948, made it impossible for a detailed report to be presented to the second meeting of the Executive Board in November, 1947. The Executive Board realized, however, that if action were to be secured during the third session of the 80th Congress, the normal processes of the Association would have to be short cut. Since the Interim Retirement Committee was the agency of the Association charged with the duty of securing the creation of a pilots' retirement system by Congressional action, the Board resolved that: "The Interim Retirement Committee be hereby authorized to make such changes in the draft of the Pilots Retirement Bill as the studies, when completed, indicate to be desirable, to arrange for the introduction of the Bill into the 3rd session of the 80th Congress and for hearings thereon at such times as, in the judgement of the committee are appropriate," Shortly after the second Executive Board meeting the draft bill was submitted to the Board of Directors and received approval. During the first part of 1948 there began to be some indication that some members of the Association were not satisfied with the bill worked out by the Committee. The Committee does not claim for its work that degree of perfection which some of the members of the Association profess to think it is possible to achieve. We doubt, in fact, whether human nature is capable of attaining the flawless omniscience which some of our colleagues have excoriated us for our failure to reach. Nevertheless, the fact that there was criticism, coupled with the fortunate circumstance that the materials received in response to the questionnaires indicated costs would be of a lower magnitude than then original highly conservative estimates, made it possible for us to put in some desirable changes.