Geithner

PITTSBURGH — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner toured a Western Pennsylvania specialty steel plant Wednesday and again called on Congress to pass financial overhaul legislation and new tax breaks for small businesses.

Geithner met with workers at an Allegheny Technologies plant in Washington, Pa., before heading to the United Steelworkers headquarters in Pittsburgh to meet with union officials and reporters. He said the steelworkers he talked to were frustrated that they had to bail out failing financial institutions in the 2008 crisis.

"I believe they feel what most Americans feel," Geithner said. "It was unfair ... The people most responsible for the crisis should be responsible for paying for it."

He said the Obama administration had to make tough decisions to help the economy. So far, Geithner said, financial institutions have paid the government back nearly $200 billion of the $700 billion bailout fund.