Ben Affleck calls for stronger US leadership in Congo

by Henry C. Jackson, Associated Press |
Ben Affleck, actor and founder of the Eastern Congo Initiative, right, talks with Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs, left, before testifying before the House Armed Services Committee on the evolving security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Ben Affleck, actor and founder of the Eastern Congo Initiative, right, talks with Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs, left, before testifying before the House Armed Services Committee on the evolving security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Actor-director Ben Affleck says a desperate humanitarian situation in Congo requires a stronger display of U.S. leadership.

The “Argo” star told a House committee in Washington on Wednesday that he has visited the region regularly in recent years, seeing both the effects of violence and the potential of the African country. Affleck founded the East Congo Initiative in 2010, a nonprofit organization that helps direct aid to the war-torn region.

Affleck says that, without more U.S. leadership, Congo will continue in a cycle of violence that has dogged it for years.

State Department officials have described the situation in Congo as the most volatile in Africa. Approximately 5 million people have been killed since a second regional war began there in 1997.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.