Mam, respectfully, you don't know what you're talking about. A President can suggest legislation, he can even request that legislation be written on his behalf by a member of congress, but a President can NOT, under the constitution, submit legislation to congress in the form shown in the movie. The bill is referred to as "White House Resolution and then a number." There are only two types of legislation: "Senate Resolution (and then a number)" and "House Resolution (and then a number)." Senate Resolutions begin in the (you guessed it) Senate, and House Resolutions in the House of Representatives.
Only a member of Congress can introduce legislation. However, presidents often use the term as if they were going to introduce bills themselves because presidents can always find at least one member of congress willing to do that for them. In other words, a bill the president wants introduced will be introduced even though the president can't actually do it.
No, 'newsguy' -- you don't know what you're talking about, and if you're an actual journalist, then that explains why . . . the lady is exactly right as she stated. The President can not 'introduce' legislation in Congress. What you described as behind the scenes suggestions does not amount to official introduction, which can only be done by an elected Member of Congress. Where you show your ignorance is when you say there are only two types of legislation. There are eight. A bill named H.R. 12 is House of Representatives 12, signifying that the bill originated in the House of Representatives, and must pass the Senate and be acted on (signed, vetoed) by the President. A bill named H. Res. 12 is House Resolution 12, which is a Resolution originating in the House that does not require Senate action or Presidential action. It's a statement of policy by the House, or a House rule. H. Con. Res. 12 would be House Concurrent Resolution 12, and is a bill originating in the House, requiring concurrent Senate action, but no presidential action. Is a Statement of the Congress (House and Senate if passed by both). Then there is H. J. Res. 12, or House Joint Resolution 12 which is a Resolution originating in the House, and requiring Senate action, and then sent to the President, but not requiring his action (the Congressional budget resolution is an example). The other four would be for bills that originated in the Senate. S. 12 (Senate 12), S. Res. 12 (Senate Resolution 12), S. Con. Res. 12 (Senate Concurrent Resolution 12), and S. J. Res. 12 (Senate Joint Resolution 12). There you go.
The final word is the constitution. Article 2- Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;
The President can submit a bill.
This is clearly a slip-up -- when Michael Douglas says "I'm introducing White House Resolution ..." that is pure nonsense. There is no such thing as a White House Resolution in any formal sense. There are executive orders -- though those are done pursuant to either an enacted law, or the Constitution.
A President can, however, "submit" a recommendation to Congress. It has no formal status until a Member of Congress introduces it, which in the House entails dropping legislative language, signed by the Member, into the "hopper" -- a box controlled by a Clerk, on the House Floor. If a Member wishes to help the President, he can introduce the President's bill "by request" which indicates it's not really necessarily the Member's bill, but is seeking to assist the President.
This last is a far cry from what the "American President" purports.
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