In 2007, then Sen. George Voinovich told the story of a young Czech soldier who wanted to visit some American veterans with whom he had served side-by-side in Iraq. He applied for a visa, but the U.S. consular office gave him an expected answer: Application denied. The reason? He had recently been in a country with an active terrorist threat. Iraq.

One year later, things changed. U.S. law was amended to allow the Czech Republic to join the Visa Waiver Program. That program lets citizens of member countries (now totaling 37) to travel to this country visa-free — for up to 90 days — for tourism or business purposes.