Ben Affleck to testify on Congo

Actor Ben Affleck has accepted an invitation by an unnamed Republican senator to testify at a congressional hearing about a documentary film he made in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Affleck, in town Monday for a national hunger rally, declined to identify the senator who invited him but did say he plans to discuss what he saw at Congolese refugee camps that he visited when shooting his film.

“He asked me to do it … and I said ‘yes,’ and he said, ‘I’ll let you know when it is,’” Affleck said of the invitation. He added that he had not heard when the hearing would take place.

A likely host would be Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s ranking member. Lugar has held Capitol Hill meetings with Hollywood celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Ashley Judd in the past.

Lugar’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

In Affleck, Congress might have found a new spokesman. The actor — in a black puffy coat, dark-blue jeans and gray New Balance sneakers — talked about his admiration for lawmakers and what he sees as an unfair reputation they receive.

“They are a lot of really smart, hardworking people who could probably be making more money elsewhere [and] who are really impressive,” he said. “I think it’s easy to pass off a kind of political blame on a faceless body and say, ‘Well, you know, Congress isn’t doing anything.’”

Affleck was joined by singer Josh Groban and actor David Arquette at Monday’s “Feeding America” rally to fight hunger.

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