WASHINGTON — Retired Army general and Kaua'i native Eric Shinseki, tapped by Barack Obama to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, told a Senate panel yesterday he will modernize what critics have called a lumbering bureaucracy.

He said the waiting period on benefit claims — sometimes more than six months — is unacceptable.

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

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

He also promised to push for expanding benefits to many middle-income veterans excluded under Bush administration policy because they make more than about $30,000 a year.

His confirmation appeared 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-Hawai'i, 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 ancestry and served as Army chief of staff before retiring in 2003 after 38 years in the military. As 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 K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, and former Sen. Bob Dole of 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.

At the time, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, vilified Shinseki, saying that estimate was much too high.

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

In 2007, Bush championed sending a "surge" of additional troops to Iraq to control raging sectarian violence, vindicating Shinseki.

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

Shinseki is currently a director at four corporations: Grove Farm Corp., First Hawaiian Bank and military contractors Honeywell International and Ducommun.

Contact John Yaukey at jyaukey@gns.gannett.com.