On 13 February 1957, the Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) circulates a note containing an exchange of letters between Sir James Hutchison, Chairman of the Assembly’s Committee on Defence Questions and Armaments, and Lord Samuel Hood. In his letter dated 9 February, Sir Hutchison requests an explanation of the automatic aid mechanism within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) so as to clarify whether there are any differences with WEU. In his reply, Lord Hood says that the United States Government has accepted the principle of a collective response in the event of an attack against a Member State, and so the differences in wording between Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty and Article V of the modified Brussels Treaty have only arisen as a result of constitutional reasons peculiar to the US: the practical effect of the two Articles is the same.