As the U.S. House of Representatives continues its debate on how to proceed on ethics reform, an article in today's edition of The Hill is instructive.   Even though, the Senate is far from doing all the work on policing its members that needs to be done, that body is viewed as more aggressive on ethics issues.  Two former House members (Cunningham and Ney) are incarcerated.  Two more members (Jefferson and Renzi) are currently under indictment.  Despite that, again, the Senate is viewed as stronger on ethics:   

The Senate Ethics Committee has emerged as the tougher policeman of congressional behavior than its House counterpart, the Standards of Official Conduct Committee, which has become embroiled in a fracas over ethics enforcement in the lower chamber.

While the Senate has adopted guidelines that some experts say exceed even what is called for in the ethics reforms Congress passed last year, the House has interpreted the law more literally. As a result, government watchdog groups say, the House has opened wide loopholes in ethics rules.

Yesterday, CREW filed an ethics complaint against Senator Pete Domenici alleging that he violated Senate Rules by contacting the U.S. Attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico, David C. Iglesias, and pressuring him about an ongoing corruption probe.  Last night, the Senate Chairs of the Ethics Committee stated that if they receive a legitimate complaint a preliminary inquiry is started.  Can we assume that the inquiry is underway?

More from the Washington Post: 

The Senate Ethics Committee released a statement yesterday evening declining to address the allegations against Domenici, but it said that anytime a legitimate complaint is filed against a senator, a preliminary inquiry is begun. The statement, from the chairwoman, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), and Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.), the committee's ranking Republican, noted that preliminary inquiries can lead to wider investigations.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal-leaning advocacy group, filed a complaint against Domenici with the committee yesterday.