Sen. John Kerry’s confirmation hearing for secretary of state was briefly interrupted by an anti-war demonstrator Thursday, giving the longtime Massachusetts legislator a chance to show off his diplomacy skills in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“You’re killing thousands of people in the Middle East who are not a threat to us! When is it going to be enough?” the protester yelled as she was escorted out of the room. “I’m tired of my friends in the Middle East dying!”

Kerry responded by recalling how he came to D.C. as a Vietnam War veteran and anti-war activist to testify before Congress in 1971.

“Well, you know, I’ll tell you, Mr. Chairman,” he said. “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.”

Kerry continued: “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.”

— Posted by Tracy Bloom.