WASHINGTON: A US congressional panel overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution urging Japan to apologize formally for coercing tens of thousands of women to work as sex slaves for its World War II military.

The 39-2 approval on Tuesday by the Foreign Affairs Committee allows the measure to be considered by the full House of Representatives. A large crowd of supporters applauded and cheered after the lawmakers' vote.

Japan "has actively promoted historical amnesia; the facts are plain", the committee's chairman, Tom Lantos, a California Democrat, said. "This resolution seeks admission of the horrible truth, in order that this horror may never be perpetrated again."