{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.lee.senate.gov/2025/11/senator-lee-introduces-audit-of-america-s-gold-reserves", "Senator Lee Introduces Audit of America\u2019s Gold Reserves", "2025-11-19", "2025", "2025-11", "Republican", "Senate", "UT", "Mike Lee", "L000577", "www.lee.senate.gov", "mikelee", "https://www.lee.senate.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Gold Reserve Transparency Act today supporting President Trump\u2019s historic transparency agenda by mandating long overdue comprehensive audits of all gold reserves held by the U.S. federal government. A similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).\n\n\u201cFor over half a century, there has not been a comprehensive audit of America\u2019s gold reserves,\u201d said Senator Mike Lee. \u201cAmericans should know whether their literal national treasure is safe and accurately accounted for. That means passing the Gold Reserve Transparency Act, opening Fort Knox, U.S. Mint Facilities, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to an audit, and then making the results public.\u201d\n\n\"I am delighted to see Sen. Lee's Gold Reserve Transparency Act introduced in the Senate. The Federal Reserve and Treasury should not be permitted to operate in secrecy, especially when it comes to the most important monetary asset on the planet, i.e. gold. Restoring trust as to America's goldholdings is more important than ever when foreign central banks are scrambling to stockpile gold at incredible rates.\" \u2013 Ron Paul, Former Congressman\n\n\u201cI applaud Senator Lee for introducing the Gold Reserves Transparency Act! It is high time we have full transparency about our government\u2019s financial status. This is a key step in that direction.\" \u2013 David McIntosh, President, Club for Growth\n\n\"Our nation\u2019s founders understood the need for a stable dollar that conveys accurate price signals and provides a dependable monetary standard. Ensuring that citizens have access to an honest measure of value is not only a moral imperative\u2014it\u2019s an acknowledgment that sound money provides the optimal foundation for maximizing prosperity in an economy based on free markets and free people. America\u2019s gold holdings are a bulwark for the monetary integrity of the U.S. dollar; they must be audited and verified.\" \u2013 Judy Shelton, Independent Institute\n\n\"America's gold hasn't had a credible, comprehensive audit in decades and taxpayers deserve to know the status of their gold holdings -- including whether it has been encumbered via leases, swaps, or other financial transactions. Senator Lee's bill also would increase the quality of the gold itself, given the majority of U.S. gold reserves are unacceptable on the global market due to their low purity levels.\" \u2013 Jp Cortez, Executive Director, Sound Money Defense League\n\n\"Even if a credible audit, inventory, assay, and accounting had been conducted decades ago, this should be an ongoing process. Audits are never a \u2018one and done' affair. The U.S. Government's poor stewardship of America's gold reserves wouldn't hold muster in the private sector and has undermined confidence.\" \u2013 Stefan Gleason, President and CEO, Money Metals Depository\n\n\"As the economy continues to slide into another Fed-created downturn, it\u2019s more important than ever we know our gold reserves are fully protected and accounted for. The Federal Reserve and Treasury have a long history of operating in secrecy. This bill brings us one step closer to accountability.\" \u2013 John McCardell, Executive Director, Campaign For Liberty\n\n\"From its beginning in 1999, the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee's objective has been to bring full disclosure and transparency to the involvement of governments with gold and the gold market. This legislation by Sen. Mike Lee goes directly to the public's right to know about its government, so we support it heartily.\" \u2013 Chris Powell, Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee\n\n\u201cGoldback Inc. supports the Gold Reserves Transparency Act because Americans deserve clear insight into the nation\u2019s gold holdings. An independent audit strengthens public trust in the foundation of gold. Transparency is essential to sound money, and this bill delivers needed clarity into the current monetary system.\u201d \u2013 Jeremy Cordon, President and CEO, Goldback, Inc.\n\n\u201cThe Sound Money Trade Association strongly endorses the Gold Reserves Transparency Act. Sound money depends on accountability, and taxpayers deserve to know the status, purity, and encumbrances of their national gold holdings. This legislation provides meaningful transparency and reaffirms that honest money is vital to a healthy, prosperous economy.\u201d \u2013 Kim Coleman, Chair, Sound Money Trade Association\n\n\u201cCitizens for Sound Money fully supports the Gold Reserve Transparency Act of 2025. For more than sixty years, the American people have been denied a complete and independent accounting of the nation\u2019s gold. This bill restores a basic principle of self-government. The public has the right to know the status, location, purity, and encumbrances of the gold that ultimately belongs to them. Transparency is not optional. It is the foundation of trust in any monetary system. A full audit of U.S. gold reserves will bring clarity into an area that has been obscured for too long, and it will strengthen the case for honest weights, honest accounting, and honest money. Citizens for Sound Money urges swift passage of this critical legislation.\u201d \u2013 Daniel Diaz, Executive Director, Citizens for Sound Money\n\n\"Phinance.Gold, inc. and the Phinance family of companies supports the passage of the Gold Reserve Transparency Act of 2025. Our Motto is: Real Money is Freedom. Gold is the real money of the American People. The Gold held in our reserves doesn't belong to any political party, or government agency, it belongs to the American people. The Government is only the custodian of these public funds and has a fiduciary responsibility to disclose the state of those funds to the American people. For more than sixty years, the American people have been denied a complete and independent accounting of the nation\u2019s gold. This bill restores a basic principle of self-government: that the Government only obtains its just powers from the consent of the people who are the true possessors of God given human rights and owners of their nation and its reserves. The public has the right to know the status, location, purity, and encumbrances of the gold that ultimately belongs to them. Transparency is not optional. It is the foundation of trust in any monetary system. A full audit of U.S. gold reserves will bring clarity into an area that has been obscured for too long, and it will strengthen the case for honest weights, honest accounting, and honest money. We urge swift passage of this critical legislation.\" \u2013 Benjamin Schaffer, General Counsel, Phinance\n\nBackground\n\nThe U.S. Treasury has long claimed that an audit of the nation\u2019s gold reserves is performed annually. However, the last known comprehensive audits of these reserves are believed to have occurred several decades ago. A full audit of our gold reserves is long overdue, given their critical role in America\u2019s financial and national security. President Trump has deemed an audit necessary to \u201cmake sure the gold is there\u201d in our federal reserves.\n\nThe Gold Reserve Transparency Act would mandate a comprehensive and independent audit of every facility housing gold owned by the federal government and a full accounting of all transactions involving America\u2019s gold occurring in the past 50 years. The findings of these investigations will be publicly published and reported by the Comptroller General to Congress and the Secretary of the Treasury.\n\nThe Gold Reserve Transparency Act would require:\n\nA complete audit and inventory of all gold reserves owned by the United States within nine months of enactment, followed by subsequent audits every five years conducted by an external third-party auditor.\n\nAn assessment of the adequacy of measures for ensuring the physical security of these reserves.\n\nA full accounting of any encumbrances related to these reserves, including those arising from leases, swaps, or similar transactions that have occurred in the past 50 years.\n\nA comprehensive account of all gold reserves in which the U.S. Government, including the Federal Reserve, has either a direct or indirect interest.\n\nA publicly available report by the Comptroller General to Congress and the Secretary of the Treasury within three months of completing the audit.\n\nRead exclusive coverage by Breitbart News here.\n\nRead bill text of the Gold Reserve Transparency Act here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.lee.senate.gov/2025/11/senator-lee-introduces-audit-of-america-s-gold-reserves"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.717753941193223, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}