(By Bob Blandeburgo) Last week's decision by the Obama administration to cut and limit the pay of executives at bailed out companies is generating a lot of press, but it's the moves by Congress that would give investors a "say on pay" that will have the broader sweep on Wall Street.

Pay cuts by the administration's "pay czar" Ken Feinberg, affect the top-paid executives at the companies that received the most money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), but with a relatively narrow scope: 175 salaries were slashed among seven companies.

Still, the widespread news of the cuts – which on average reduced total compensation by 50% – was met with glee from American taxpayers, which funded the bailouts of the firms. A survey conducted by ABC News and The Washington Post showed the majority of Americans in all political parties supported the measure: 79% of Democrats, 70% of Independents and 62% of Republicans.

Now, with the public behind it, Congress will likely ride the wave of momentum to pass legislation that will give shareholders more of a voice on executive pay.

And it's already halfway there: the House of Representatives in July passed the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act, which gives investors a nonbinding annual advisory vote on executive compensation and federal regulators the power to stop any "perverse" incentives that may threaten the stabilities of the companies or the economy.

Shortly before the House passed its so-called say-on-pay bill, it was revealed that thousands of employees at TARP recipients received bonuses of $1 million each.

"What we've seen on Wall Street in the last many years is turning that concept of pay for performance on its head," U.S. Rep Chris Van Hollen, D-MD told The New York Times after the House passed the bill.

A similar bill dubbed the Shareholders Bill of Rights Act was introduced earlier this year by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY. However, unlike the House bill, the Senate bill would require a split in the jobs of chairman and chief executive officer, as well as require the chairman to be an independent director.

In a letter to pay czar Feinberg last week, Schumer urged him to also revamp the TARP firms' corporate governance across the board.