Ben Affleck Comes to Capitol Hill to Talk Congo

Jason Merritt/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Actor Ben Affleck came to the Senate Thursday to talk about a philanthropic topic — his Eastern Congo Initiative — but he couldn’t escape the fame of his other job: Being “Batman.”

Affleck himself kicked off the Batman talk when he gave a shout out to one of his senatorial co-stars in the upcoming film, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

“To Senator Leahy, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge my co-star in Batman. The role is marginally smaller than mine but I understand you’re quite good,” Affleck said to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on diplomacy and development Thursday morning.

Affleck’s comment essentially confirmed Leahy will make a cameo in the upcoming Batman film. The Vermont senator has appeared in four Batman movies, most famously standing up to Heath Ledger’s The Joker character in The Dark Knight.

Affleck testified alongside Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, who Affleck described as the “greatest and most important philanthropist in the history of the world.” Another panelist, Scott Ford, CEO of the Westrock Group LLC, lauded the efforts of “Batman” in Congo.

“We had the United States ask us would you go to Congo and I said not without Batman,” Ford joked. “And when Batman showed up, we went to Eastern Congo.”

At least one senator — Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. — was star struck by being in the presence of Batman and snapped a photo of Affleck in the middle of the hearing.

Batman testifying before Appropriations hearing on importance of foreign aid (oh, and @BillGates is here too). pic.twitter.com/LYW1Im7nIJ

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) March 26, 2015

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