Why did we fight so hard to gain a Democratic Congress in the last election? Why did we stress the importance of the D next to a candidate's name? This is why:

President Bush should expect tougher oversight of the war on terrorism and a closer look at his administration's policies on torture and other human rights issues, the incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Wednesday.

. . . Leahy said he would also deal with what he says are the administration's human rights abuses by creating a new subcommittee focused on legislation on such issues as torture and detainee treatment. Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois will chair the new panel, Leahy said.

. . . Leahy also talked tough about President Bush's ``signing statements,'' in which the president has laid out which parts of laws he has just signed that he will follow and which he might not.

. . . Leahy, who was chairman of the committee in 2001-2002, said the return of Democratic control would mean a period of ``restoration, repair and renewal'' after what he termed years of the Bush administration's virtually unchecked power to hunt for terrorists even within U.S. borders. ``This administration has been less and less willing to let us know what they are doing,'' Leahy said. Bush's warrantless wiretapping program and the government's secretive terrorism risk assessments of Americans traveling abroad merit a closer look by his panel, Leahy said.

The separation of powers. Checks and balances. The Founders were very smart.