WASHINGTON — Pressured to respond to burgeoning sexual misconduct allegations, the House easily approved a bipartisan measure Wednesday requiring annual anti-harassment training for lawmakers and aides after a debate that rang with lawmakers' own accounts of such episodes.

Voice vote passage came as Congress waged year-end battles over Republican tax cuts and a potential government shutdown but has been diverted to also address allegations against some of its own. The accused include liberal heroes Rep. John Conyers and Sen. Al Franken and far-right GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama.

With Conyers being pressed to resign from Congress by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and others, Pelosi seemed to suggest it was time for the long-serving liberal and civil rights hero to step down.

“No matter how great the legacy, it is not a license to harass and abuse,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said without mentioning the 88-year-old Michigan Democrat's name. She said Congress must tolerate no abuse, “no matter your contribution to our country.”

Conyers' attorney, Arnold Reed, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the lawmaker has no plans to leave Congress.

The House debate also saw Rep. Robert Brady, D-Pa., describe conversing with a female colleague in the chamber as a congressman he didn't identify “walked by and groped her from behind.” Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-N.H., recounted a story she's told before about being sexually assaulted while a congressional aide four decades ago by “a distinguished guest of the United States Congress.”

Earlier, House Speaker Paul Ryan said there should be no room for sexual harassment “in any workplace, let alone in the United States Congress.” Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters that having a hostile environment on Capitol Hill is “a disgrace.”