Indian Country has been waiting 17 years for Congress to update the Indian Health Care Improvement Act... and will have to wait a little longer.

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee was poised to take action on two of Indian Country's top priorities today: improving health care and support young people on reservations. But a full legislative schedule have pushed the votes into the future. No new date has been set.

Tribal leaders have long stressed the need for a reauthorization of the health bill in order to bring recent advances into the Indian health system, including home care, preventative care, and counseling for domestic violence and substance abuse. And tribes hope future funding will last the whole year… or at least not run out mid-summer, as it has been.

The second bill the panel was going to consider was the Indian Youth Suicide Prevention Act, which would establish a "telemental health demonstration project", using the internet and video conferencing to connect isolated, rural youth with counselors. Suicide rates for native youth are among the highest in the country.

Committee staff members say the bills are still a high priority, and they expect to reschedule the votes soon.