Geithner to Congress: No debit limit drama

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner warned Congress Sunday against repeating last year's "very damaging" debate over the debt limit and said the economy is stronger than at any time in the past several years.

"It would be good for the country, if this time, they did it with less drama and less politics and less damage to the country than they did last summer," Geithner said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program, referring to lawmakers' reluctance to raise the debt ceiling until an 11th-hour agreement with the Obama administration in August.

Geithner has said the United States won't hit its debt limit again until late in the year.

"Americans generally should feel much more confident about the basic strength of the economy than they would have felt any time in the last four or five, six years," Geithner said. Still, "it's a very tough economy."

Geithner is defending President Barack Obama's record as presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has sharpened his criticism since Rick Santorum dropped out of the Republican race April 10. Geithner also spoke in interviews airing Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" and ABC's "This Week" programs.

"Obviously, we've got a lot of challenges ahead and some risks and uncertainty ahead," Geithner said on ABC. Those risks include the European debt crisis and oil prices, he said.

-- Bloomberg News Service