Message to the Congress Transmitting the 18th Annual Report of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.

To the Congress of the United States:

In compliance with the act of March 3, 1915, which established the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, I submit herewith the Eighteenth Annual Report of the Committee for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1932.

It is noted that the Committee reports material and gratifying improvements in aircraft performance and reliability, and that the steady advances in technical development have increased the relative importance of aviation as an arm of national defense and as an agency of transportation.

In the new phase of the industrial age upon which the country is entering, substantial achievements will rest largely on the stimulation given to scientific research. The remarkable progress of aeronautics since the war is a demonstration of the value and necessity of research.

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics is the Governmental agency for coordinating and conducting fundamental research in aeronautics. I concur in the Committee's opinion that America should keep at least abreast of other nations in the development of aviation and believe that the best way to assure this is to provide for the continuous prosecution of organized scientific research.

HERBERT HOOVER

The White House,

December 8, 1932.