Washington ? The Senate voted Tuesday to substantially increase fines for broadcast indecency, responding to months of public outrage over racy radio and television broadcasts that culminated with the exposure of Janet Jackson’s breast during CBS’s telecast of the Super Bowl halftime show in January.

An amendment attached to a Defense Department authorization bill likely to be voted upon today would give the Federal Communications Commission authority to increase the maximum fine for each incident of broadcast indecency from $32,500 to $275,000 to as much as $3 million a day.

The amendment “is a clear signal to broadcasters that Congress and the American people expect them to abide by the longstanding guidelines for use of the public airwaves,” the author of the amendment, Sen. Sam Brownback, R- Kan., said. “This bill will empower the FCC to levy fines that are updated to reflect the current market by allowing increased fines that will have a tangible, punitive effect.”

Brownback wrote his amendment to deal solely with the fines. Other senators added language to strike down FCC rules that would allow big media companies to grow larger. And the Senate agreed to attach a measure requiring the FCC to study whether the V-chip and television ratings protect children from violent content.

The resulting package passed 99 to 1. Sen. John Breaux, D-La., cast the dissenting vote, saying he objected to the addition of language dealing with the media ownership rules.

The House already has passed its version of the defense bill, so the two houses must now conference to decide if the fines and other measures will be included in the bill sent to President Bush for signing.