Students of American history may recall that President Andrew Jackson was once chastised by the Senate for refusing to turn over a document related to his opposition of the Bank of the United States. The tool chosen by the Senate was a statement of disapproval known as a censure.

No censures have been issued against presidents since that incident in 1834, not even when Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached. This week, however, Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin is proposing that the Senate invoke the little-used resolution to condemn President Bush for his illegal authorization of the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program.

Censuring a president doesn’t really change anything. For all he cares, Bush can continue to break the law and flout constitutional limits on the executive branch — and he probably will. But there’s a reason that the censure has been used so infrequently over the years: it sends a strong message of condemnation to the president, signifying an intense disagreement between him and Congress over an important issue.

The Senate should vote to censure President Bush — but it is highly unlikely that it will do so, considering that it’s controlled by Republicans. Moreover, with mid-term elections approaching, Democrats will be reluctant to come out against Bush so openly, for fear of their opponents using the censure against them as evidence of their lack of support for the commander-in-chief.

Regardless of their political affiliations, senators must not be afraid to speak out against a president when he violates the law, especially when so many legal experts have acknowledged that Bush’s actions were illegal. In this case, it is the right thing to do.

A censure is, in fact, the least that Congress should be doing. There should have been an investigation into the president’s misdeeds. Instead, the Senate is preparing to legalize Bush’s actions on domestic spying under the guise of “greater congressional oversight.” Unfortunately, this is just another example of Congress failing to keep the administration honest.

In the absence of an investigation, a censure is all we can hope for from the Senate. But it’s a sad day when the most that can be done to check the president is issue a strongly worded statement of disapproval.