ATLANTA — Members of Georgia’s House delegation stood Wednesday to make their mark before the historic impeachment vote.

U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., has led the Republican’s anti-impeachment campaign while being praised by President Donald Trump as a “hero.” Collins dictated the GOP side of debate proceedings, but first he shared his remarks.

Collins and other members of the party said impeachment has been a work in progress, starting with Trump’s victory in the 2016 election. GOP members said the founders of the country warned against “partisan impeachment.”

“Ever since the gentleman was elected the president came forward and did what he thought fit for the American people but yet they wanted to impeach him and it hit me,” Collins said during his nearly seven minutes of remarks, “and now I know the reason they wanted to is now they’re realizing when I told them and had been telling them for the last few weeks, that the clock and the calendar are terrible masters.”

Democrats have based impeachment on a fear of losing the 2020 election, Collins said, and the Republican Party would be happy to take this decision to the voters.

“We don’t care about rules, we don’t care about minority hearing days, we don’t care about giving the opportunity for witnesses to be called because the chairman gets to determine what is relevant,” Collins said. “Wow, that’s pretty good. Let the accuser determine what is relevant to the one being accused. The people of America see through this. The people of America understand the process and they understand when it is being trampled in the people’s House.”

Collins said he will “fight the facts all day long,” the president did not commit an abuse of power.

U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Democrat, is the only Georgia delegation member who was a congressman during the impeachment of Bill Clinton two decades ago. Lewis took the stand “with a heavy heart” to vote in support of impeachment.

“Today, this day, we didn’t ask for this. This is a sad day, it is not a day of joy,” Lewis said. “Our nation is founded on the principle that we do not have kings. We have presidents. And the Constitution is our compass.”

Lewis said Congress has a “moral obligation” to do something.

U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican, likened impeachment of President Donald Trump to the trial of Jesus — drawing a national eye to the Georgia delegate.

“When Jesus was falsely accused of treason, Pontius Pilate gave Jesus the opportunity to face his accusers,” Loudermilk said. “During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than Democrats have afforded this president in this process.”

His GOP colleague U.S. Rep. Rick Allen highlighted the argument that impeachment should not be a partisan act.

“Today for the third time in our nation’s history, a president will be impeached,” Allen said. “This will be, however, the first time impeachment has been entirely partisan and without merit. This charade is not because President Trump is guilty of a high crime or misdemeanor, but because one political party doesn’t like him or his policies of America first.”

U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, a Democrat, said he did not support impeachment until the findings regarding the president’s conversation with Ukraine. Johnson referenced Georgia’s alleged voter suppression as an example that the sanctity of elections is under threat.

“We know that it’s wrong to enlist the help of foreigners in interfering in our elections,” Johnson said. “We know it’s wrong to cheat. And we know what’s at stake. It’s not just that our elections were attacked, our elections are under attack right now.”

GOP House member U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter said that what Democrats do not realize is the damage impeachment will cause to “our political institutions and America’s trust for years to come.”

“This impeachment process isn’t focus on strengthening and protecting our political foundations but rather shaping public opinion,” Carter said.

U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson, another Republican, said he was one of the millions of voters who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and “raised a collective middle finger to D.C.”

“How dare you, the liberal elites, the condescending bureaucrats and every other kind of swamp critter in this god-forsaken place,” Ferguson said, “tell the American public who the president should be? That’s the job of the American voter, not yours.”