Political Standards under Scrutiny. Probe of House Speaker, Bush Proposals for Still Tighter Rules Have Congress Squirming. ETHICS IN WASHINGTON

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LIKE an uninvited guest at a party, the question of ethics once again hangs uneasily around Capitol Hill.

Yet the ethical standards may be no worse than in the past - and perhaps better. Experts say ethical questions may just be asked more often now and may be receiving more accurate answers.

In general, says ethics specialist Suzanne Garment, "I think it's safe to assume that congressmen are not doing more crooked things than ever before in the history of our republic ... with one partial exception.

"It may be," says Ms. Garment, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, "that since the campaign finance reforms" of the past two decades, …