The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 (S.193.ENR,) is an enrolled bill, passed by both Houses of the 109th United States Congress, to increase the fines and penalties for violating the prohibitions against the broadcast of obscene, indecent, or profane language. It was originally proposed in 2004 as the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004 (S. 2056/H.R. 3717); this preliminary bill was never passed. Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas sponsored both United States Senate bills; Senators Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), George Allen (R-Va.) initially co-sponsored the bill at its reintroduction on January 26, 2005. History The bill became public law No. 109-235 on June 15, 2006, when President George W. Bush signed it in the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. By this time, the bill was co-sponsored by 27 senators in total. As President Bush made his signature, he commented that the bill was ultimately "going to help American parents by making broadcast television and radio more family-friendly." The bill's credibility and justification for stronger censorship has been contested as a challenger to free speech and artistic expression. The push for stronger government policies that enforce censorship peaked after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) investigated the incident that occurred during the Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show in 2004. An estimated 140 million people were watching the show when at the end, pop star Justin Timberlake popped off part of Janet Jackson's corset, exposing her breast. The subsequent "Nipplegate" controversy was a prominent topic of discussion of the general public. At the time, the FCC Chairman Michael Powell said MTV and the CBS network's more than 200 affiliates and company-owned stations could be fined $27,500 a piece. The FCC made notice about the complaints received in the weeks after the incident. The Commission ultimately remarked, "The Commission does, however, have the authority to enforce statutory and regulatory provisions restricting indecency. Specifically, it is a violation of federal law to broadcast obscene, indecent or profane programming. Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 1464 prohibits the utterance of any 'obscene, indecent or profane language by means of radio communication.'" The range of the FCC's authority over censorship for inappropriate conduct on the airwaves, however, was only a part of the concern. As the investigation developed, the major concern was whether or not the monetary retribution for violation was adequate enough. With the proposal of