Gold Reserve Transparency Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3526 To provide for the first true audit of gold owned by the United States in more than 65 years, and subsequent audits every 5 years. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2021 Mr. MOONEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To provide for the first true audit of gold owned by the United States in more than 65 years, and subsequent audits every 5 years. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gold Reserve Trans- 4 parency Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. ASSAY, INVENTORY, AND AUDIT OF GOLD RE- 6 SERVES. 7 (a) GAO ASSAY, INVENTORY, AND AUDIT.—The 8 Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3526.IH H3526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3526 IH and complete, not later than nine months after the date 1 of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years thereafter— 2 (1) a full assay, inventory, and audit of all gold 3 reserves, including any gold in ‘‘deep storage’’, of 4 the United States at the place or places where such 5 reserves are kept; 6 (2) an analysis of the sufficiency of the meas- 7 ures taken to ensure the physical security of such re- 8 serves; 9 (3) a full accounting of any and all encum- 10 brances, including those due to lease, swap, or simi- 11 lar transactions presently in existence or entered 12 into at any time during the past 15 years with re- 13 spect to the gold reserves; 14 (4) a full accounting of any and all sales, pur- 15 chases, disbursements, or receipts at any time dur- 16 ing the past 15 years—whether directly or indirectly 17 undertaken—with respect to the gold reserves, in- 18 cluding the specific terms and parties involved in 19 such transactions; and 20 (5) a full accounting of all gold in which the 21 U.S. Government (including the Board of Governors 22 of the Federal Reserve System or any other Federal 23 agency) presently has a direct or indirect interest, 24 including gold that may be held by third parties, in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3526.IH H3526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3526 IH cluding, for example, the Bank for International Set- 1 tlements, the International Monetary Fund, the Ex- 2 change Stabilization Fund, any foreign central bank, 3 or any other party, public or private. 4 (b) REPORTS.—Not later than 3 months after the 5 completion of each assay, inventory, and audit required 6 under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall issue 7 a report to the Congress containing all results, findings, 8 and determinations made in carrying out the assay, inven- 9 tory, audit, analysis, and accounting and shall promptly 10 make such report (together with copies of all source mate- 11 rials relied upon) available to the public on the internet. 12 No redactions shall be permitted except with respect to 13 underlying details contained in the analysis completed 14 under subsection (a)(2) above dealing only with physical 15 security. 16 (c) GAO ACCESS.—For purposes of carrying out this 17 Act, the Comptroller General shall have full access (en- 18 forceable by subpoena authority) to any depository or 19 other public or private facility where such reserves are 20 kept or where any records are kept that are necessary to 21 carry out this Act. 22 (d) INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE BY TREAS- 23 URY.—The Secretary of the Treasury (and all other Fed- 24 eral agencies, including the Board of Governors of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3526.IH H3526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3526 IH Federal Reserve System) shall make available, without any 1 redactions, to the Comptroller General, for purposes of 2 carrying out this Act, all books, accounts, records, reports, 3 files, correspondence, memoranda, papers, or any other 4 document, tape, or written, audio, or digital record per- 5 taining to the assay, inventory, audit, analysis, and ac- 6 counting required under subsection (a), as determined by 7 the Comptroller General. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3526.IH H3526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS