WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- Judge Sonia Sotomayor has spoken for years about how her experiences as a Latina woman have influenced her public and private life . Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been meeting with lawmakers in advance of her confirmation hearings . In her speeches , she often discussed her `` Latina soul '' and explained how even the traditional dishes of her Puerto Rican family shaped her views . And she often said that she hoped those experiences would help her reach better judicial conclusions than someone without such a varied background might reach . The line was almost identical every time : . `` I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would , more often than not , reach a better conclusion . '' That sentence , or a similar one , has appeared in speeches Sotomayor delivered in 1994 , 1999 , 2002 , 2004 and 2001 . In that speech , she included the phrase `` than a white male who has n't lived that life '' at the end , which sparked cries of racism from some Republicans . Those instances were included in documents Sotomayor sent Thursday to Capitol Hill , part of her response to the lengthy questionnaire sent to her by the Senate Judiciary Committee before her Supreme Court confirmation hearing . Sotomayor supporters brought up the 1994 speech themselves , after former House Speaker Newt Gingrich , radio host Rush Limbaugh and others labeled Sotomayor a racist over the remark . Gingrich has since recanted . The supporters point out that Republicans did not object to those remarks in 1998 during Sotomayor 's confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit . Sotomayor has spent the last three days in meetings with senators on Capitol Hill answering their questions about her judicial record -- and defending those comments . While the judge has made no public comments herself about the matter , others have . See Sotomayor 's key rulings » . `` She told me she had used the phrase before but that she would not be using it again , '' said Sen. Susan Collins , R-Maine . `` She 's clearly a very bright individual who learns from her past mistakes , '' Collins said . But Collins said she was `` still uncomfortable that she [ Sotomayor ] made the statement , particularly as a sitting judge . '' `` I can understand her explanation that it was intended to be a statement to inspire the young people to whom she was talking and that it did not reflect how she approaches cases before her , '' she said . `` But that 's why I want to read more of her cases to make sure that is the case . '' Sen. Dianne Feinstein , D-California , said after meeting with Sotomayor that the judge had told her , `` 'It was a poor choice of words . If you read on and read the rest of my speech you would n't be concerned with it , but it was a poor choice of words . ' `` But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was n't mollified . `` If it was a bad choice of words , it was a bad choice of words repeatedly ... leading one to believe that it probably was n't just an isolated statement but a core belief , '' he said . Sotomayor 's point -- that a person 's experiences influence how he or she sees the world -- does n't sit well with some Republicans , who believe that viewpoint means the law takes a back seat to a more nuanced judgment . It also highlights a basic difference in how many conservatives and liberals view the federal judiciary . Many conservatives seek a strict adherence to the law as it is written , while many liberals believe that the circumstances of individual cases could lead to differing decisions even if two cases appear nearly identical on the surface . CNN 's Dana Bash and Emily Sherman contributed to this report .
Sotomayor discusses her `` Latina soul , '' how Puerto Rican dishes shaped her . She said she hopes experiences would help her reach better judicial conclusion . `` Wise Latina '' comment used in 1994 , 1999 , 2002 , 2004 and 2001 speeches . Sen. Feinstein : Sotomayor described remark as `` a poor choice of words ''