Sen. Lindsey Graham wants President Barack Obama to tell the world that the Boeing Co. is an “ethical” company.

Graham, R-S.C., will hold up Obama’s nominee for Commerce Secretary until the President does so, the senator told a South Carolina television station this morning.

Graham was on hand for the opening of Boeing’s new 787 final assembly factory in North Charleston.

John Bryson, Obama’s pick for Commerce, is a Boeing board member. That’s a step in the right direction, Graham said.

But “I’m going to require them to step up and say the obvious,” he said.

Graham noted that Obama can’t intervene in a National Labor Relations Board complaint against Boeing over the company’s pick of South Carolina for its second 787 line. The labor board says Boeing selected North Charleston to get back at its Puget Sound area Machinists for labor strikes.

Here’s what Graham told WCBD TV in Charleston: