Sotomayor: Individual rights not affected by 9/11 attacks

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Judge Sonia Sotomayor asserted Tuesday that the individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution were not impacted by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

"September 11 was a horrific tragedy," Sotomayor told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "The issue of the country's safety and the consequences of that tragedy are the subject of continuing discussion ... (But) in the end, the Constitution by its terms protects certain individual rights."

The "Constitution is a timeless document," she said.

Sotomayor made her remarks during the second day of the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearings on her Supreme Court nomination.