Dick Thornburgh and Paul Steven Miller, writing in the Seattle Times, urge that the U.S. sign the UN International Treaty on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The treaty could benefit one-quarter of humanity, they say: the 650 million people, as well as their families, who live with disabilities.

As former officials of two different presidential administrations, one Republican and one Democratic, we strongly believe that this treaty is consistent with American law.

… The treaty enshrines important principles that Americans hold dear: nondiscrimination, equal protection under the law and the right to autonomy and independent living in integrated, community settings.

The U.S. reluctance to sign this treaty has been painful and puzzling to us. The treaty provides important protections, beyond the specific protections of the American law, which level the playing field for people with disabilities. And we should not be so proud as to think we cannot learn from other countries about even better opportunities for people with disabilities.

We know that our society is richer for — and that everyone benefits from — including people with disabilities in schools, housing, workplaces, voting booths, houses of worship, public accommodations and every other sphere of life.

Richard Thornburgh (left, above), of counsel at the law firm of K & L Gates, is a former United States attorney general, former governor of Pennsylvania, and former undersecretary general of the United Nations. Paul Steven Miller, right, the Henry M. Jackson Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law, is former commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and former White House liaison to the disability community.

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