Rep. Ron Paul is still attempting to fulfill his mission of an independent audit of U.S. gold reserves. A hearing is scheduled tomorrow for a bill demanding an audit of all gold in the United States. He wants the US Department of Treasury to prove that there really is indeed gold in Fort Knox.
Author: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: Wednesday , 22 Jun 2011
MINEWEB
RENO, NV -
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, may be yet again running for President, but he has not abandoned his quest for an independent audit of U.S. gold reserves.
A hearing is scheduled this Thursday before Paul's House Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology on Paul's bill demanding an audit of all gold in the United States.
The Gold Reserve Transparency Act of 2011 or H.R. 1495 is the manifestation of Paul's long quest to force the U.S. Department of the Treasury to prove there is real gold bullion in the vault at Fort Knox in Kentucky.
While annual reviews of the facility are conducted by the Office of the Inspector General of the Treasury, no one has actually ever counted the number of 27-pound gold bars being held in the U.S. Bullion Depository.
Paul had hoped the gold reserve audit would be a part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.
During an interview with Kitco News last year, Paul said, "Our Federal Reserve admits to nothing, and they should prove all the gold is there. There is a reason to be suspicious and even if you are not suspicious why wouldn't you have an audit?"
Paul's bill would not only request an independent audit of the 5,000-plus tonnes of gold bullion stored in Fort Knox. It would also audit U.S. gold reserves held in Denver, West Point, and the New York Federal Reserve Bank in lower Manhattan. The Treasury Department estimates the audit will cost $15 million.
The congressman wants some of the bullion to be assayed and tested by an independent laboratory to prove that the bars are investment grade gold bullion.
Eric M. Thorson, inspector general of the Department of Treasury, is one of two witnesses scheduled to testify at the subcommittee hearing Thursday. Thorson is the first outsider to be granted full access to the U.S. Bullion Depository in 37 years, Bloomberg recently reported. He is responsible for keeping track of the U.S. Mint's deep storage gold and silver reserves.
Thorson has insisted that the gold reserves exist in the amount reported and the controls over the bullion guarantee its security.
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