WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Calling eras of divided government "often the best time for solutions on complex problems," incoming Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, echoed Wednesday President Bush's call for productive bipartisanship.

"Issues like Social Security, energy independence, and immigration reform and border security demand action," McConnell said in a statement. "And on the issue of Iraq, it is my hope, and my challenge to my colleagues, that our debate will be based on what is best for the future of our nation and for Iraq, not what's best for a political party or presidential campaign."

In an opinion column in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal, President Bush wrote "together, we have a chance to serve the American people by solving the complex problems that many don't expect us to tackle, let alone solve, in the partisan environment of today's Washington."

The 110th Congress's session is set to begin Thursday.