Celeb: Actor Richard Gere, the veteran heartthrob last seen in “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and arguably Hollywood’s most famous Buddhist. (He’s been a friend of the Dalai Lama since his “An Officer and a Gentleman” heyday.)

Cause: The Chinese government’s treatment of the Tibetan people.

Scene: At a hearing room straight out of central casting (think imposing rows of judges’ benches and a long witness table) Gere was one of four witnesses to testify before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on what everyone there agreed was an increasingly oppressive “situation” in Tibet.

While waiting to present his testimony the 65-year-old actor held up photos of prominent Tibet monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, who died recently in a Chinese prison. In 2002, Rinpoche was sentenced to life by the Chinese for anti-state activities. The State Department has asked the Chinese authorities investigate the cause of Rinpoche’s death and to return his body “to his family or to his monastery so that customary religious rituals can be properly performed.”

“This is the one who was condemned as a bomber,” said Gere as he showed the members of the commission photos of the orphanage Rinpoche helped build. The actor then asked if it was possible to enter those pictures into the congressional record. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), co-chair of the commission, said he’d make sure they were.

Gere, chairman of the nonprofit group International Campaign for Tibet since 1995, spent most his 10 minutes at the witness table laying out his view about the crisis in Tibet, including global warming, human rights violations and access to borders. The actor and others in the room expressed concern that the Chinese government planned to stall talks surrounding Tibet’s future until its exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, 80, dies.

“The world is built on dialogue,” continued Gere, “this is not something outrageous we’re asking for.”

Sound bite: “The Dalai Lama is the one individual who can ensure implementation of a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Tibet,” said Gere. “The Dalai Lama is not the problem, he’s the solution.”