Sotomayor's remarks cap emotional day

WASHINGTON -- Judge Sonia Sotomayor introduced herself as a believer in "impartial justice" and the embodiment of a "uniquely American" dream as Senate hearings opened Monday on President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee.

Sotomayor said she has "applied the law to the facts at hand" in her 17 years on the bench. Since Obama tapped her for the high court on May 26, Sotomayor's record has come under intense scrutiny and the Supreme Court reversed one of her discrimination cases.

Sotomayor's brief opening statement capped a sometimes emotional day as the Judiciary Committee began considering what Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., described as "a historic nomination."

If confirmed, Sotomayor, 55, would be the Supreme Court's 111th justice, its third woman and its first Hispanic.

Sotomayor, who grew up in a Bronx public housing complex where her parents moved from Puerto Rico, told the senators that she has received letters from admirers across the nation.

"Each reflects a belief in the dream that led my parents to come to New York," she said. "It is our Constitution that makes that dream possible and I now seek the honor of upholding that Constitution as a justice on the Supreme Court."

Senators get to question Sotomayor today. Republicans led by Alabama's Jeff Sessions told her they'll focus on her judicial philosophy. Even so, all paid tribute to her trailblazing role before a standing-room-only audience that included the judge's 82-year-old mother, Celina Sotomayor.

"I would hope that every American is proud that a Hispanic woman has been nominated to the Supreme Court," said deputy Senate Republican leader Jon Kyl, an Arizonan whose constituency is nearly 30% Hispanic.

"Unless you have a complete meltdown, you are going to get confirmed," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told the judge.

Republicans focused on statements and rulings that they said suggest Sotomayor's bias in favor of minorities. "Empathy for one party is always prejudice against another," said Sessions, the panel's top-ranking Republican.