The need for a system of recording and cataloguing aviation safety's institutional knowledge and shared history was apparent long before ASRS came to fruition. In testimony before the U.S. Senate on legislation proposing the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, United Airlines president William A. Patterson touched the concept: "On the positive side," said Mr. Patterson, "you take your statistics - and your records - and your exposures - and you act before the happening!“[citation needed]