WASHINGTON--Howard Stern finally found a line to cross. Clear Channel Radio, the nation's largest radio chain suspended the shock jock from six stations after he aired an interview in which a caller spouted a racial slur.

The suspension was part of a new policy the company announced to change the level of indecency permitted on its 1,200 radio stations. According to Baptist Press and the Associated Press, part of the new policy includes automatic suspensions for anyone accused by the Federal Communications Commission of violating indecency rules.

"Clear Channel drew a line in the sand today with regard to protecting our listeners from indecent content, and Howard Stern's show blew right through it," Clear Channel President and CEO John Hogan said in a news release. "It was vulgar, offensive and insulting, not just to women and African Americans but to anyone with a sense of common decency."

Hogan joined executives from ABC, Fox, NBC and Pax to testify before the House Energy and Commerce telecommunications subcommittee as part of the second hearing on indecency since Janet Jackson's Super Bowl breast-bearing incident. House members questioned Stern's suspension over something no more outrageous than his regular content.

"I don't think what he said this week is much different from what he's been saying for years," said subcommittee chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich. "Why didn't this happen earlier?"

"I don't think he's changed his tune; we have changed ours," Hogan said. "We're going in a different direction."

The company also fired Todd Clem, a DJ known as "Bubba the Love Sponge," after he received a record FCC fine of $755,000 resulting from a program that included graphic discussions about sex and drugs.

Hogan apologized to the House for allowing his company to broadcast such material.

"We were wrong to air that material," Hogan said. "I accept responsibility for our mistake, and my company will live with the consequences of its actions."