The House Armed Services Committee held a hearing to discuss the evolving security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the implications for U.S. security.
Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Derek Chollet and assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs Johnnie Carson spoke on the first panel.
Actor and Director Ben Affleck, founder of the Eastern Congo Initiative, testified on the second panel, along with Carnegie Mellon University Professor Jendayi Frazer and James Jay Carafano, Heritage Foundation vice president of foreign and defense policy studies and director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies.
The Eastern Congo Initiative is a nonprofit organization centered around relief efforts. Affleck gave the Committee a better idea of the situation on the ground in the country.
Rep. Howard McKeon (R-CA) chaired the hearing.