Stennis wrote the first Senate ethics code, and was the first chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee.

The House and Senate ethics committees' verdicts last week seemed to many to reflect a new attitude in society, one that holds politicians up to higher standards of behavior.

Senate ethics rules and federal ethics laws allow members to own stocks and other assets directly, without putting them in trusts.

We filed a Senate ethics report which tells everyone what my assets are and what I'm going to spend on.

If the committee finds that Mr. Torricelli has violated Senate ethics rules, it should punish him quickly and effectively.

She should have been governed by Senate ethics rules and not the outgoing president's ethics rules.

The Senate ethics and lobbying reform bill under debate was introduced by the leaders of both parties and closely resembles a bill passed under Republican control last year.

Ultimately, those inquiries involved three different sets of prosecutors and several federal law enforcement agencies, and considered issues ranging from campaign financing laws to bribery statutes to Senate ethics rules.

Both the House and Senate ethics panels have been roundly criticized for being too easy on misbehaving lawmakers.

The Senate ethics manual describes the rule as "a broad prohibition" against either members or staff personnel, "directly or indirectly, deriving financial benefits from the use of their official positions."