House Passes Bill to Limit Executive Compensation - As Seen on CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to give the Treasury Department the power to ban future "unreasonable and excessive" compensation at companies receiving federal bailout money.

The Pay for Performance Act of 2009, which passed by a vote of 247-171, would empower Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to define what constitutes reasonable compensation, as well as to ban bonuses not based on performance standards. Geithner's guidelines would apply to companies receiving assistance from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

Democrats provided heavy support for the bill, with only eight from that party voting against the measure. Republicans, who are in the minority in the House, were mostly opposed, with only 10 crossing party lines to support it.

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