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ByDavidCrary The Associated Press NEW YORK Thenumberof foreign children adopted by U.S. parents dropped by 9 percent last year to the low- est level since 1982, accord- ing to new State Depart- ment figures. The department's re- port for the 2014 fiscal year shows 6,441 adoptions from abroad, down from 7,094 in 2013 and about 74 percent below the high of 22,884 in 2004. The number has fallen every year since then — a trend that has dis- mayed many adoption ad- vocates in the U.S. Trish Maskew, chief of the State Department's Adoption Division, said it was difficult to predict when the number of for- eign adoptions might start to rise again after so many years of decline. "We're trying to identify places where there's poten- tial, and work with them to see if we can improve the process," Maskew said. "It would be great to be as powerful as some people think we are." As usual, China ac- counted for the most chil- dren adopted in the U.S., but its total of 2,040 was down more than 10 percent from 2013 and far below the peak of 7,903 in 2005. Since then, China has expanded its domestic adoption pro- gram and sought to curtail the rate of child abandon- ment. Ethiopia was second at 716, a sharp drop over a two-year period from 1,568 adoptions in 2012. The next three countries on the list showed increases — 521 children adopted from Ukraine, up from 438 in 2013; 464 adopted from Haiti, up from 388; and 370 from South Korea, up from 138. PARENTING Fo re ig n adoptions by Americans plummet By Bradley Klapper The Associated Press WASHINGTON The frame- work nuclear deal sealed by world powers and Iran leaves major questions: Could Iran cheat? Possi- bly. Would the U.S or any- one else be able to respond in time? In theory, yes. Are they prepared to use mil- itary force? Questionable. Would a final deal settle global fears about Iran's in- tentions? Almost surely, no. But the surprisingly de- tailed fact sheet released by the United States after Thursday'sdiplomaticbreak- through in Switzerland pro- vides President Barack Obama significant ammu- nition for the fight he'll face sellinganagreementtoskep- tical U.S. lawmakers and Middle East allies. That is, if negotiators can get to that point over the next three months. As Obama said from the White House, "Their work, our work, is not yet done and success is not guaran- teed." And the parameters for a comprehensive accord by June 30 still include big holes for Washington and its negotiating partners. The limits are vague on Iran's research and devel- opment of advanced tech- nology that could be used for producing nuclear weapons. Inspectors still might not be able to en- ter Iranian military sites where nuclear work previ- ously took place. The Amer- icans and Iranians already are bickering over how fast economic sanctions on Iran would be relaxed. And Obama's assertion that the penalties could always be snapped back into force is undermined by the U.S. fact sheet describing a "dis- pute resolution process" en- shrined in the agreement. But the biggest issue may be one U.S. officials have emphasized above all oth- ers: the "breakout time" Iran would need to surrep- titiously produce a nuclear weapon. The framework imposes a combination of restrictions that would leave Iran needing to work for at least a year to accom- plish that goal, rather than the two-to-three months currently. Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have cited the longer breakout period as proof they've secured a "good deal" and say the one-year window is enough time for the U.S. to detect a covert Iranian push toward a bomb and to respond. That standard would hold only for a decade, however. Over the follow- ing five years, it's unclear how far Iran's nuclear pro- gram would be kept from the bomb. And after the 15-year deal expires com- pletely, there appear to be no constraints left to speak of — something congressio- nal opponents and Iran's regional rivals Israel and Saudi Arabia point to as ev- idence of a "bad deal." "This deal would pose a grave danger to the re- gion and to the world and would threaten the very survival of the State of Is- rael," Prime Minister Ben- jamin Netanyahu said after an Israeli cabinet meeting Friday. "In a few years," he said, "the deal would re- move the restrictions on Iran's nuclear program, en- abling Iran to have a mas- sive enrichment capacity that it could use to pro- duce many nuclear bombs within a matter of months." These matters and many more will now be weighed by a Congress that has watched impatiently over 18 months of negotiations. Republicans are almost universally opposed to Obama's diplomatic effort; Democrats are divided. To- gether they'll look at two possible pathways for con- gressional intervention. The first would give lawmakers an up-or-down vote on a deal, something Obama may be amenable to despite past opposition. He stated his confidence Thursday in being able to demonstrate that an accord will advance U.S. and world security, and said his aides would engage Congress on how it can "play a construc- tive oversight role." The second potential con- gressional action is more risky: imposing new sanc- tions on Iran's economy. That could end the diplo- macy altogether by jeopar- dizing the basic formula for afinalpact:removalofWest- ern sanctions in exchange for stricter nuclear limits. But Obama has more working in his favor now than he did last year when the negotiations twice missed deadlines. Even then, his administration managed to hold off con- gressional pressure. This week's deal would compel Iran to cut in half the number of centrifuges it has spinning uranium. No bomb-making mate- rial could be fed into ma- chines at a deeply buried underground facility that may be impervious to air attack. Advanced centri- fuge models would be dis- connected. A heavy water plant would not be allowed to produce weapons-grade plutonium. Inspections would increase. And the long-term arc of Iran's nuclear activity could well argue for con- tinued diplomacy. The administration and other supporters of the agreement note that in the years Washington re- fused to talk to Tehran, de- manded that Iran stop all enrichment and sought a total dismantlement of its nuclear facilities, the Irani- ans expanded from several dozen centrifuges to a ca- pacity of 20,000. They es- tablished a secondary site at a fortified underground bunker. They began enrich- ing uranium to levels just below weapons-grade. Since November 2013, Iran is operating only 9,000 centrifuges and that num- ber is to drop to just over 6,000. The Iranians aren't producing any higher-en- riched uranium anymore and are to ship out or neu- tralize most of their stock- piles. ANALYSIS Ir an d ea l le av es m aj or q ue st io ns u nr es ol ve d SUSANWALSH—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE President Barack Obama speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. EBRAHIM NOROOZI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks in a news briefing at the Saadabad palace in Tehran, Iran, on Friday. Select"Subscribe"tabinlowerrightcorner Complete information for automatic weekly delivery to your email inbox That's it! This FREE service made possible by the advertisers in TV Select Magazine Kindly patronize and thank them. Click on their ads online to access their websites! FREE online subscription to TV Select Magazine Digital edition emailed to you, every Saturday! 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