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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took the hot seat Wednesday in what will likely be her final appearance before Congress as America's top diplomat.

The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee is examining the State Department's response to the September 11th terrorist attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi, Libya.

Four Americans died and an independent review found inadequate security and leadership left the post vulnerable.

Clinton blamed a lack of funding, in part, for the inadequacies.

She also says the department is now making more than two dozen changes to security and leadership.

"Nobody wants to sit where I am and have to think now about couldah, shouldah - wouldah happened in order to avoid this," she said.

Republicans insisted she testify in person about whether the administration mislead the public
when United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice blamed the attack on protests over a controversial video.

"With all due respect - the fact is - we had four dead Americans! Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can - to prevent it from ever happening again," an emotional Clinton replied.

Clinton described the situation as complicated and said some questions about the attack still remain unanswered.

Tomorrow Senator John Kerry faces a hearing on his nomination to replace Secretary of State Clinton.

He chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but did not participate today.