Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor rebutted Republican concerns that she might not be impartial as a justice in an opening statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday.

“In the past month, many senators have asked me about my judicial philosophy. It’s simple: fidelity to the law,” Sotomayor said in her first public comments since President Obama announced her nomination on May 26.

“The task of a judge is not to make the law – it is to apply the law,” she said. “And it is clear, I believe, that my record in two courts reflects my rigorous commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its terms; interpreting statutes according to their terms and Congress’s intent; and hewing faithfully to precedents established by the Supreme Court and by my Circuit Court.

“In each case I have heard, I have applied the law to the facts at hand,” she said.

In opening statements on the first day of her confirmation hearings, Republicans have singled out several of Sotomayor’s speeches over the years — but very few of her opinions — as troubling evidence that she might unduly allow her personal feelings to influence her rulings as a judge.

In her statement, Sotomayor directly answered that charge.

“My personal and professional experiences help me to listen and understand, with the law always commanding the result in every case. “

From Bronx to Ivy League

Sotomayor’s brief opening statement also recounted her up-by-the-bootstraps upbringing and storied legal career as a prosecutor and federal district and appellate judge.

She pointed to her rise from “modest circumstances in a Bronx housing project” to Ivy League universities and on to a three-decade career in the judicial system as a prosecutor, litigator, federal trial judge and federal appellate court judge.

It was a story echoed by many Democratic senators on the committee Monday.

Sotomayor thanked the 89 “gracious senators” with whom she has met since being nominated, including all 19 members of the Judiciary Committee. And she singled out her mother, who was sitting behind her in the hearing room, saying, “I love that we are sharing this together.”

After Sotomayor wrapped up her statement, Leahy adjourned the hearing until Tuesday morning.