to the U.S. Senate, defeating former astronaut Jack Swigert in the GOP primary in September, and Democratic incumbent Floyd Haskell in November. He and Swigert became good friends and Armstrong was with the former astronaut when he died from cancer in December 1982. Reelected in 1984, he served in the Senate for twelve years. Armstrong served on the Banking, Finance, and Budget Committees, and was noted for his successful effort to index personal income tax rates to the rate of inflation. Majority Leader Robert 'Bob' Dole later referred to Armstrong as “the father of tax indexing". In 1980, Armstrong actively worked to make GI Bill benefits permanent for U.S. military personnel. In February 1982, Senator Armstrong, alongside Congressman Carlos Moorhead sponsored the resolution S.J. Res 165 authorizing and requesting the President to proclaim 1983 as the “Year of the Bible”. President Ronald Reagan implemented the resolution as Public Law 97-280. Following the formal designation of 1983 being the Year of the Bible, Armstrong served on the newly created National Committee to help focus attention on the year-long observance. In 1983, Armstrong chaired the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, and served on the National Commission on Social Security Reform, which was created to find solutions to the long-term financing of the program. He was the only Commission member to vote against its final 1983 report because it failed to include any change in the eligible retirement age, though his view prevailed in the final legislation enacted by Congress. Also in 1983, Armstrong wrote the foreword to Daniel O. Graham's book on Project High Frontier, "We Must Defend America and Put an End to MADness." In the foreword, Armstrong criticizes the U.S. policy of Mutual Assured Destruction and advocates for a new policy, specifically that advocated by Project High Frontier, for defense against the Soviet Union's Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. During his time in office, Senator Armstrong worked on welfare reform. He supported the passage of the Family Support Act 1988, the first change in welfare rules in 50 years. Working with Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Governors Bill Clinton (D-AR), and Mike Castle (R-DE), the final bill passed the Senate by a vote of 93–3. The new law imposed work requirements (16 hours/week) on able-bodied welfare recipients for the first time. The bill also extended welfare benefits for unemployed 2-parent families and included the child support enforcement provision backed by Armstrong,