John Kerry Responds To Protester By Referencing Vietnam Testimony (VIDEO)

John Kerry: Protester's Outburst During Hearing An 'Exclamation Point To My Testimony'

A protester interrupted the sleepy confirmation hearings Thursday for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who has been nominated to be the next secretary of State.

"You're killing thousands of people!" she yelled. "I'm tired of my friends in the Middle East dying!" She was escorted out.

Kerry responded by mentioning the moment that catapulted him onto the national stage, when he testified in 1971 in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as a Vietnam veteran and famously asked, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

"Well, you know, I'll tell you, Mr. Chairman," said Kerry, "When I first came to Washington and testified, I obviously was testifying as part of the group of people who came here to have their voices heard. And that is above all what this place is about."

"So I respect, I think, the woman who was voicing her concerns about that part of the world, and maybe one of you have traveled there. Some of you were there recently. Senator McCain, you were just there, you were in a refugee camp, and I know you heard this kind of thing. People measure what we do. And in a way that's a good exclamation point to my testimony."

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John Kerry (2013-Present)

Secretaries Of State

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