WASHINGTON — Retired Army Gen. and Hawai'i native Eric Shinseki, tapped by President-elect Barack Obama to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, told a Senate panel Wednesday he would modernize what critics have called a lumbering bureaucracy.

He said the waiting period on benefit claims — sometimes six months or longer — was unacceptable.

"We must transform the VA into a 21st-century organization," he told the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. "It will be people-centric, results-driven and forward-looking."

Shinseki said his top priorities include implementing the new Veterans' Assistance Act, which expands the educational benefits for military veterans who have served since Sept. 11, 2001.

Shinseki also promised to push for expanding benefits to many middle-income veterans who were excluded under the Bush administration because they made more than about $30,000 annually.

Shinseki's confirmation appeared virtually assured as senators spoke of "when" he takes office, not if.

"I'm confident that you have a strong sense of empathy and this will serve you well as secretary," said Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Shinseki, 66, served two tours in Vietnam and was twice wounded. He became the Army's first four-star general of Japanese-American ancestry and served as chief of staff of the Army before retiring in 2003 after 38 years in the military. While serving as the Army chief of staff, he was instrumental in helping create a faster, lighter fighting force.

If confirmed, he would be the first Hawai'i-born person to serve in a presidential Cabinet. He is expected to be confirmed early next week by the full Senate.

"I cannot imagine a better choice," said Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va. "It (a vote to confirm Shinseki) will be one of the best votes I've made on this committee."

Shinseki, who was flanked by Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai'i, and former Sen. Bob Dole from Kansas, was widely praised for "speaking truth to power."

His retirement from the Army came months after he testified to Congress that it would take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to control Iraq after the invasion in March 2003.

"He told the truth and it wasn't easy," Inouye said.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, vilified Shinseki, saying the estimate was much too high.

But in 2007, Bush championed sending a "surge" of additional troops to Iraq to control what at the time was raging sectarian violence. This vindicated Shinseki.

In nominating Shinseki, who has served at virtually every level in the Army, Obama declared him to be a man "who finally modernizes our VA to meet the challenges of our time."