Bill sponsored by Sen. Pat Roberts targets vaccine misinformation amid measles outbreak

Kansas City, Mo. — Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas is partnering with two Midwestern Democrats to fight the spread of misinformation about vaccines in the face of measles outbreaks across the nation.

The Kansas City Star reports Roberts introduced legislation Thursday to instruct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to award competitive grants for public information campaigns aimed at combating the anti-vaccine movement.

The bill does not specify a dollar figure, but would enable the CDC to steer money toward them.

The Kansas senator called a lack of confidence in vaccines one of the top public health threats in a video released by his office Thursday.

Co-sponsors on the legislation are Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan and Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, both Democrats.

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