Bernie Sanders invited the Amazon union to testify in Congress. Lindsey Graham says Sanders 'determined Amazon is a piece of crap company.'

• Bernie Sanders held a hearing Thursday on whether companies accused of skirting labor law should get federal contracts.
• Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sanders has "determined Amazon is a piece of crap company."

On Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders held a hearing on whether the government should provide federal contracts to companies accused of skirting labor laws — something he's called upon President Joe Biden to stop.

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sanders was taking the Senate Budget Committee on a "dangerous turn."

"Every time I turn around, you're having a hearing about anybody that makes money is bad," Graham, who would chair the committee if Democrats lose their majority, said of Sanders.

He added: "You can have oversight hearings all you like, but you've determined Amazon is a piece of crap company. That's your political bias."

Sanders brought the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) to Washington for a Senate Budget Committee hearing titled "Should Taxpayer Dollars Go to Companies that Violate Labor Laws?" Sanders, who chairs the committee, invited ALU founder Christian Smalls to testify. Sanders also invited Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to speak in front of the committee. Bezos was not in attendance.

The independent Amazon Labor Union pulled off a historic victory in Staten Island. Workers at the JFK8 warehouse voted to unionize with the ALU, becoming the first unionized warehouse at the tech behemoth. Sanders, a long-time labor advocate, has rallied with ALU.

Amazon did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

"Let me begin my questioning by responding briefly to Senator Graham. I think he suggested that a hearing like this is radical," Sanders said during the Budget hearing. "You know what, I think he's right. In a Congress dominated by corporate lobbyists and wealthy campaign contributors, the idea that we would actually hear from the working class of this country is in fact radical. But I make no apologies for that."

Smalls also responded directly to Graham.

"You forgot that the people are the ones who make these companies operate, and if we are not protected and if the process for when we hold these companies accountable is not working for us, then that's the reason why we're here today," Smalls said. "That's the reason why I'm here — to represent the workers who make these companies go."

The hearing comes after Sanders called upon President Joe Biden to implement an executive order banning union-busting companies from receiving federal contracts, one of Biden's campaign promises. Sanders sent Biden a letter in late April asking the president to fulfill his promise.

Sean O'Brien, the general president of the Teamsters, said in his testimony that the federal government has a "mandate to encourage worker organizing and collective bargaining" under the National Labor Relations Act.

"But our government ignores that mandate with every dollar that it puts into the pockets of Jeff Bezos and his organized crime syndicate known as Amazon," O'Brien said.