The Christian Coalition is asking its members to call their senators Tuesday to urge passage of legislation that would raise the cap on fines for indecent broadcast programming from $32,500 to $500,000.

The legislation was approved last year by a 389-38 vote in the House of Representatives. But Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, wants to hold off on a vote in the Senate to see whether concerns about off-color programming can be adequately addressed by voluntary industry-backed initiatives to promote the v-chip and other blocking technologies.

In a statement Monday, the coalition said it was particularly concerned because the Big 4 TV networks recently announced court challenges to Federal Communications Commission decisions holding that use of the F-word and S-word violated agency indecency prohibitions.

“Congress needs to give the FCC even greater weapons to go against out-of-control broadcasters,” said Robert Combs, coalition president.

Also Tuesday, the Parents Television Council, Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council are hosting a conference call to renew their request for legislation “to curb the deluge of indecent programming that’s already flooding the living rooms of families across the U.S.,” the groups said in a joint statement.