Unless you are in the leadership, you are considered a back-bencher (see Ron Paul, Denis Kucinich, Barack Hussein Obama, etc..) It is not a slur, but a description of his rank & file status in the congress. Senator Fred Thompson was the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman, which has jurisdiction over Federal procurement policy.
http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=About.Jurisdiction
We are in a war. The role of the House Armed Services Committee has been SIGNIFICANT.
He wouldn’t have been awarded Keeper of the Flame otherwise.