After the risky trading activities at supposedly safe institutions such as AIG, Americans want to be reassured that the gold reserves are still the exclusive property of the US and have not been used to fund risky transactions.
You'll be appalled to learn that the contents of Fort Knox are actually an asset on the balance sheet of a privately owned corporation and banking entity. Yes, the Fed owns the gold. The U.S. Treasury is holding the gold for the Fed, not necessarily for U.S. citizens.
The supposed $137 billion in gold rightfully belongs to U.S. citizens and we have been denied access to it for three decades. We need not only an audit, but a full and independent inventory of the gold by weight. It is our property and we, the American people, deserve to know the truth.