Washington ( CNN ) -- The man convicted of videotaping her through a hotel peephole was sentenced to two years in prison , ESPN reporter Erin Andrews said Tuesday , but in a way , she was sentenced to a lifetime of looking over her shoulder . `` The one thing that I think is very , very sad about the whole ordeal is , he 's going to jail for a little over two years , '' said Andrews , who appeared with members of Congress on Tuesday in support of legislation to strengthen federal stalking laws . `` That video on the Internet will be there for the rest of my life . '' Someday , she said , she will need to explain the video to her future husband and children . `` These stories are not easy to talk about , '' Andrews said . `` It 's so funny . I work in the public eye . I 'm used to these cameras all the time , but it 's easier for me to talk about touchdowns and errors . ... This is not easy for me at all . '' The legislation -- Simplifying the Ambiguous Law , Keeping Everyone Reliably Safe Act , or STALKERS -- was introduced in the House last week by Reps. Loretta Sanchez , D-California , and Virginia Foxx , R-North Carolina . The `` long overdue '' bill is set for debate on the House floor Tuesday , Sanchez said . Stalking laws have not caught up with emerging technology , she said , and the bill will bring the laws into the present `` to give law enforcement the tools they need to combat stalking in the digital age . '' The legislation would cover technologies such as electronic monitoring , spyware , bugging and video surveillance , she said . A victim presently must have a `` reasonable fear of physical injury '' before a case can be prosecuted , she said , and sometimes that is too late . `` The bottom line : Stalking is about power and control , '' she said . `` It 's a violation of the worst kind , and we need to put a law in place in our justice system that helps us and gives us every available tool . '' Sen. Amy Klobuchar , D-Minnesota , said she plans to introduce a companion bill in the Senate and is procuring a Republican author . A former prosecutor , Klobuchar said that although stalking is `` one of the most invasive crimes , '' it can be difficult to prove and tricky to prosecute . She thanked Andrews for coming forward but noted , `` there are cases like this all over the country every day '' involving women who are not in the public eye . She recalled a case in Minnesota in which an online relationship soured and a man posted pictures of a woman 's children , along with their full names , addresses and telephone number , on child pornography sites , encouraging people to molest them . In March , a federal judge sentenced an Illinois man to 2 1/2 years in prison for taping Andrews in the nude through the peephole and posting the video on the Internet . Michael David Barrett , 49 , pleaded guilty to a federal stalking charge in December after prosecutors accused him of altering hotel peepholes so he could shoot video of Andrews . `` I have seen with my own eyes through firsthand experience that the laws have been taken way too lightly . They are n't clear , and they have not kept up with the technology or the time , '' Andrews said , her voice shaking at times . `` At times over the past year , I have screamed . I have cried . I have said to my family , 'Why me ? Why is this happening to me ? ' `` But , she said , she received `` countless letters -- I 'm still receiving them -- from women who say , 'Please go out and fight this . Please go out and show your face . ' ... I 'm showing my face . I 'm lending my voice . And I 'm here to give this law some teeth . '' She said her message to victims is , `` There is hope , and there is help , and if you need help , do not be ashamed to ask for it . '' The legislation increases penalties for offenses where a restraining order is in place and for offenses involving children or the elderly , lawmakers said . Currently , the federal law applies only to criminals who travel over state lines , but the new legislation will cover any conduct that criminals engage in that affects interstate commerce , Sanchez and Klobuchar said . Although most stalking cases are prosecuted at the state level , the federal law will serve as a model , they said .
Reporter joins lawmakers to support legislation . The man who taped Erin Andrews was sentenced to Tuesday in prison . Legislation is set for debate on the Senate floor more than two years . A companion bill will be introduced in the House .