Chris Rock: Michelle and Barack are like 'the mom and dad' of the US

The celebrity odd couple of Chris Rock and Tony Bennett stood side-by-side, along with lawmakers and high-profile speakers, at the Capitol on Wednesday as they spoke out against gun violence and urged Congress to take action to prevent it.

“I’m just here to support the president of the United States,” Rock said at the packed press conference, which was led by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and held by DemandAPlan.org, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

The 47-year-old comedian and “I Think I Love My Wife” star made no mention of weapons as he spoke to a room of reporters, saying, “The president of the United States is our boss, but he’s also, you know, the president and the first lady are kind of like the mom and the dad of the country. When your dad says something, you listen.”

He then quipped to laughs at the otherwise serious gathering, “And when you don’t, it usually bites you in the ass later on.”

Thompson poked fun at Rock’s very brief remarks before the comic ducked out, ribbing him by asking, “Forgot your notes?”

Bennett also uttered only a few words, speaking about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in a somber tone, “I still haven’t gotten over Connecticut. I’d like the assault weapons to go to war, not in our own country. And I’d like assault weapons eliminated.”

The Grammy Award-winning singer, 86, later told reporters, “I’m a pacifist. I’m very far out. I’m against violence. I’m against war.”

Thompson, noting he’s a gun owner and a hunter, encouraged his colleagues to act on Obama’s gun plan, which would include background checks for all gun sales and an assault weapons ban: “The fact of the matter is what needs to be done has to be done by Congress.”

Other notables at the event included: NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” actor Adam Scott; “The Whole Nine Yards” actress Amanda Peet; Anna Deavere Smith from “Nurse Jackie” and “The West Wing”; Kerry Kennedy, daughter of former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.); Martin Luther King III; and Aurora, Colo., shooting survivor Stephen Barton.

Photos: Greg Nash