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WATCH: Protester interrupts Kerry confirmation hearing

A protester interrupted Secretary of State nominee John Kerry's confirmation hearing, but the Senator showed deft diplomacy in responding to her outburst.
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A protester interrupts Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), President Obama's nominee to be the next Secretary of State, during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C. on January 24, 2013. If confirmed Kerry will be replacing current Secretary Hillary Clinton. UPI/Kevin Dietsch
A protester interrupts Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), President Obama's nominee to be the next Secretary of State, during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C. on January 24, 2013. If confirmed Kerry will be replacing current Secretary Hillary Clinton. UPI/Kevin Dietsch 
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Published: Jan. 24, 2013 at 11:10 AM
By GABRIELLE LEVY, UPI.com

The soon-to-be chief diplomat got a chance to test his skills when an anti-war protester interrupted the opening testimony at his confirmation hearing as Secretary of State.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., was addressing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when a woman began shouting at the back of the room.

"When will it be enough?" she shouted as police escorted her from the room. "I'm tired of my friends in the Middle East dying."

Kerry, whose first appearance before the Foreign Relations Committee was as the spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and whose anti-war views sunk his presidential aspirations in 2004, handled the interruption with finesse and grace.

“When I first came to Washington and testified I obviously was testifying as part a group of people who came here to have their voices heard, and that is, above all, what this place is about,” he said.

"I respect, I think, the woman who was voicing her concerns about that part of the world. People measure what we do. In a way, that's a good exclamation point to my testimony."

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