WASHINGTON, D. C. - Worried about foreign governments spreading propaganda in hopes of swaying U.S. elections?

A new law authored by U.S. Sen. Rob Portman would address that issue by establishing a State Department center to coordinate and synchronize counter-propaganda efforts by the U.S. government.

"While the propaganda and disinformation threat has grown, the U.S. government has been asleep at the wheel," said a statement from the Ohio Republican. "Today we are finally signaling that enough is enough; the United States will no longer sit on the sidelines. We are going to confront this threat head-on."

After waiting for Congress to act on Russian propaganda, Congress has taken a bold step! #Fakenews watch out. #PortmanMurphy — Peter B. Doran (@PeterBDoran) December 12, 2016

Portman introduced the "Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act" in March with Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat. Its language was included in a defense authorization bill that Congress adopted last week.

It calls upon the State Department's Global Engagement Center to coordinate U.S. initiatives "to expose and counter foreign disinformation operations and proactively advance fact-based narratives that support U.S. allies and interests."

It also establishes a fund to help train local journalists and think tanks, media organizations and other experts outside the U.S. government "to empower a decentralized network of private sector experts" whose expertise can help formulate the anti-propaganda strategy.

In an MSNBC interview after the legislation passed, Portman said that apart from Radio Free Europe, the United States lacks "much of an effort" to counteract "disinformation" and "propaganda" disseminated by countries like Russia and China.

"I do think we need to be much more responsive to that as a government, and particularly online, where we're not sophisticated, and other countries are," said Portman. "I think there's a number of things we could do, certainly investigating any foreign countries interference in our election system is important, but also having the U.S. itself be able to push back against disinformation and get the truth out there to people over the world."

Not everyone favors Portman's new law.

Some say it would trample free speech, stifle alternative media and create exactly the sort of U.S. propaganda mill that's being decried.

"It is important to note that the 'foreign influence on our election' hysteria has yet to be remotely proven or even significantly investigated," Stefanie MacWilliams wrote in a piece to decry Portman's legislation. MacWilliams is a Canadian blogger who promoted the "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory that motivated a man with a rifle to fire shots in a Washington, D.C. pizza restaurant last week.

"It is nothing but a narrative, a means to an end," MacWilliams continued. "It is being used as a tool to pass Orwellian legislation and to further encourage the mainstream media to act as government propaganda outlets."