WASHINGTON - Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers Friday said that personal briefings on Iraq he received Thursday included evidence that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s government is manufacturing and stockpiling terrible biological and chemical weapons and is continuing its efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

“The evidence is substantial enough to be frightening,” said Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids. “It highlights the need to have a free and totally unfettered inspection program in Iraq, as well as the need to disarm Saddam Hussein’s forces. Mr. Hussein agreed do these things after the Gulf War, but he has not lived up to the agreement.”

Ehlers received a White House briefing Thursday morning from National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and a high-level official from the Central Intelligence Agency. He also received an intense, science-oriented Pentagon briefing Thursday evening specifically on nuclear weapons. Ehlers, who worked briefly at a nuclear weapons laboratory as a graduate student (although he did not work on weapons research), requested the briefings as part of his continuing efforts to gather information about the threat posed by Iraq and its leader, Saddam Hussein.

Congress is scheduled next week to consider a resolution that would grant President George W. Bush authority to take military action against Iraq. Ehlers said he is still considering the resolution and has discussed the content of the resolution several times with House International Relations Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., whose committee is responsible for writing the resolution.

“We still do not know what the final wording of the resolution will be, nor do we know what alternatives will be offered,” Ehlers said. “I’ve heard many concerns raised by my constituents and I have passed these concerns on to Chairman Hyde, Ms. Rice and President Bush.

“I appreciate all the input I’ve received from the residents of the Third Congressional District and I am equally appreciative of the information that the White House and the Congressional leadership has provided me. This is an agonizing decision and I am approaching it very carefully.”