The Washington Post: The Senate on Monday began its most substantial debate on congressional ethics in nearly five years, a proposal that would formally prohibit insider stock trading on Capitol Hill and bring the chamber’s financial disclosure laws up to date with technology.

On a wide bipartisan vote of 93 to 2, senators agreed to begin debate on legislation that would ban members of the House and Senate, as well as their staffs, from enriching themselves by using “any non-public information derived from the individual’s position” in Congress. The legislation follows several media reports last year that showed lawmakers and their staff members had financial holdings in corporations while they were involved in sensitive congressional negotiations that could affect the bottom line of those industries.

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