Graham Media Group President and CEO Emily Barr appeared as one of five witnesses earlier this week at a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing -- essentially serving as the voice of local broadcast television companies, in front of the country’s top legislators.

Barr runs Graham Media Group and serves as Television Board chair for the National Association of Broadcasters.

One news industry website said of the five witnesses testifying Wednesday, “none was perhaps more important” than Barr, who presented broadcasters’ view on the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act, or STELAR, in front of lawmakers.

“The NAB wants STELAR reauthorization nixed,” the Radio and Television Business Report said. “Barr wants it barred.”

Take it from Barr, whose statement and testimony has been posted in full, online.

“Local broadcasters continue to believe that (STELAR) should be allowed to expire at the end of 2019 – the date that Congress intentionally chose for this temporary law to sunset,” Barr told legislators. “Not only have its provisions become unnecessary and ineffective, but today, STELAR affirmatively harms viewers who are being denied access to their local television stations as the result of its continued reauthorization.”

The Senate will continue to consider the complex issues surrounding STELAR renewal. STELAR dates back to 1988, and what it did was put into place the compulsory license that allows satellite operators to import distant network TV station signals into local markets where viewers lack access to them. But broadcasters want to make sure people living beyond the reach of a signal maintain access to their local programming.

“In today’s hyper-competitive media landscape, broadcasters are the authentic, local voice passionately informing and celebrating our communities. Local broadcast television remains the most-watched source of news, entertainment programming, sports, emergency information and investigative journalism in communities across America,” Barr testified Wednesday. “Your constituents turn to our local stations to get the weather report, learn how to help neighbors in need and watch trusted local news anchors and reporters deliver unbiased accounts of what is happening in their hometowns. Local broadcasting is the critical electronic glue that binds every community together, keeping them informed and safe. This is our industry’s North Star.”

While cable operators want the STELAR law renewed or extended, broadcasters argue it should expire, because it allows satellite carriers to avoid the costs of carrying local stations in the smallest TV markets. Instead, these carriers import signals from places farther away.

Localism is key, said Barr, adding that the compulsory license is a way to lock out some communities, which broadcasters don’t want to do.

DirecTV, for example, "continues to offer only out-of-town signals to viewers in 12 markets simply because it is more profitable for the company,” Barr said.

She pointed out that Dish serves those smallest markets.

Dish and DirecTV, by the way, are the two satellite TV providers that benefit from the compulsory license.

“I have worked in all aspects of local broadcast television for nearly four decades,” Barr told the committee. “I have held the position of news editor, creative services director, operations manager, general manager and am now a CEO. As a result, I am proud of the unique services broadcasters provide their local communities, but I also understand the business and financial costs of running a newsroom, investing in state-of-the-art equipment, producing award-winning investigative journalism and enabling our stations to go above-and-beyond when our neighbors need it most. To fulfill our unique and indispensable role in the communities we serve, broadcast television must have the ability to reach our local viewers on every platform and earn fair compensation for our programming.”

If STELAR isn’t renewed every five years, it expires, along with the requirement that broadcasters and multichannel video programming distributors negotiate retransmission consent deals in good faith.

“Congress should allow STELAR to expire as it originally intended,” Barr said in conclusion. “There is no policy justification or technological reason to renew this outdated law, and any temporary reauthorization harms viewers.”