(CNN) Congress paid out $174,000 from a US Treasury fund from 2008 to 2012 to settle claims of sexual harassment and sex discrimination against offices of the House of Representatives, according to data released Tuesday by the House Administration Committee.

That sum is a small fraction of the more than $17 million that the Office of Compliance, Congress' little known agency that handles workplace complaints and represents all settlements, paid out over the past 20 years. The Office of Compliance has not typically made public breakdowns of how it spends taxpayer funds, but has been under increasing pressure to do so by lawmakers and those outside of Congress who have called for more transparency.

Congress's Office of Compliance, responding to a request for information from the committee's chairman, Rep. Gregg Harper, said that eight settlements had been paid out related to sexual harassment or sex discrimination during the five-year period.

One hundred fifteen thousand dollars specifically involved sexual harassment cases, while another roughly $59,000 included discrimination on the basis of gender, according to the data.

The information released by the Office of Compliance does not include the names of victims nor does it identify the congressional offices involved.

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