The chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is standing firm against pressure from U.S. lawmakers who want him to delay the vote next week on the new media ownership rule that, if passed, would eliminate a ban that does not allow a broadcaster to own a newspaper in the same city in the 20 largest markets in the United States.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and four of his commissioners were questioned today at an oversight hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee.

At one point during the questioning, former presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., asked Martin if he would “agree today” to postpone the vote on the ownership rule. “No,” Martin responded, according to an Associated Press article appearing on the International Herald Tribune's Web site Thursday. The vote is scheduled for Dec. 18.

Kerry, as well as several other Democrats and Republican Senators Trent Lott and Ted Stevens, are opposed to relaxing the rules, according to the AP.

The committee approved a bill last week that would delay the vote by a minimum of six months.

Martin said part of the reason he approves eliminating the ban in the nation's 20 biggest markets, with some conditions, is due to the newspaper industry's poor financial condition. The FCC does not regulate newspapers, but it does have the power to decide wither a broadcast station may own one, according to the AP.