Ben Affleck made his fourth visit to testify in front of Senate yesterday. In his appearance on Capital Hill, Affleck was on a panel along with Microsoft founder and arguably the world’s greatest philanthropist, Bill Gates. His wife, Jennifer Garner, and their oldest daughter Violet, 9, sat right behind him. The panelists made an appeal for foreign aid at a Diplomacy, Development and National Security hearing held by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee. Affleck is close to this cause, having founded The Eastern Congo Initiative in 2010. He’s also made multiple visits to the region to learn firsthand about the violence and unimaginable loss there.

Gates discussed the need for US aid for foreign assistance projects, particularly healthcare, in order to avoid a catastrophic event like the flu pandemic of 1918. Affleck told a compelling story about the great change that a small amount of US foreign aid (only 1% of the US budget is allocated to foreign aid, and he explained that this was a small fraction of that) was able to effect in the Eastern Congo. With money from USAID, his charity and several other charities were able to support over 4,500 coffee farmers whose livelihood was affected by ongoing war and displacement. What’s more is that they were able to offer financing, supply chain management and a guaranteed market for the coffee through a partnership with Starbucks. It was an impressive story of how assistance to foreign aid groups is making a difference.

Affleck started by making a quip that Senator Leahy (D-Vermont) was his costar in Batman. (Leahy had a line in The Dark Knight.) He also joked that he felt inadequate following Gates. “Thanks for having me follow the greatest and most important philanthropist in the history of the world. I’m sure I’m going to come off great.” Here’s a summary of what he said, thanks to The Guardian, and you can read his prepared remarks here.

“I would be remiss not to recognize my co-star in Batman,” Affleck said. “Your role was marginally smaller than mine, but I understand you were quite good. Good morning, sir.”

Gates said US aid had “a major impact” in improving agricultural productivity in the world’s poorest nations. “Given that 70% of all people living in extreme poverty are in rural areas, and most are engaged in farming,” he said, “the renewed US commitment to agricultural development represents a very sensible, cost-effective approach to reducing global poverty.”

Affleck said that Starbucks had just purchased 40 tons of coffee from eastern Congo – the entirety of the first export of an industry cooperative supported by his organization – for consumption in the United States. Congo’s coffee industry, once among the world’s largest, was destroyed by two decades of conflict and has shrunk to less than a tenth of its former size.

“That’s a clear testament to what’s possible for Congo,” Affleck said of the Starbucks purchase. “This isn’t charity or aid in the traditional sense. It’s good business.”

Affleck’s Eastern Congo Initiative arranges financing for Congolese farmers and grants for grassroots organizations, including schools and aid outlets.

[From The Guardian]

Whenever I cover Ben Affleck’s charity work, I remember his 2008 Nightline special, which chronicled his third trip to the Eastern Congo. He described the good people he met and how their lives became “a living hell” when militia groups decimated their homes and raped and murdered their families. For everything you can say about Affleck, he really cares about this cause and has made it his mission to champion it.

There have been rumors for years that Affleck wants to get into politics. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s his plan for a second career. He’s still got some directing and acting years left in him though.

Here’s a clip of Affleck’s speech and you can watch the entire hearing in this video on C-Span. (Affleck comes in at :17 minutes.)