Excerpts from the first "Bulletin" of the President's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies and an outline of the coordinator's presentation to the Chicago hearing are presented. The objectives of the commission include recommending means for directing public attention to the importance of foreign language and international studies, assessing the need in the United States for foreign language and area specialists, recommending that foreign language area studies programs are appropriate at all academic levels and advising desirable support that should be provided by the public and private sectors, and reviewing existing legislative authorities. Principal points made in commission meetings and hearings in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, and San Francisco-Monterey are presented. The foreign language situation in Indiana is discussed by Lorraine A. Strasheim, the coordinator for school foreign languages. Information is presented on enrollments in grades 9 through 12, major causes of attrition, the decline of full-time teaching positions, teacher workloads, supervisory and administrative assistance to teachers, and foreign languages below grade 9. Foreign language programs in the 21st century are also discussed. (SW)