Simone Biles, Jeff Bezos' space trip, addiction, student loans and other top Opinion reads

In today's fast-paced news environment, it can be hard to keep up. For your weekend reading, we've started in-case-you-missed-it compilations of some of the week's top USA TODAY Opinion pieces. As always, thanks for reading, and for your feedback.

— USA TODAY Opinion editors

1. Biden should extend student loan payment pause and cancel $50,000 for borrowers: Schumer

By Chuck Schumer and Natalia Abrams

"Over the course of the crisis, the pause on student loan payments has become one of the most effective steps the government has taken to help the American people. It provided approximately $72 billion in relief for borrowers and their families. A recent survey conducted by Student Debt Crisis and Savi found that 75% of student loan borrowers feel that the pause on payments has been critical to their financial well-being."

2. Pelosi is fighting a war that Republicans started. Their aim is to never lose an election.

By Kurt Bardella

"Since Jan. 6, some Republicans in Congress have rewritten history. Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde compared the events of that day to a “normal tourist visit.” Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar called participants in the attack “peaceful patriots.” Former President Donald Trump, the leader of the Republican Party, in an audio interview for a new book by Carol Leonnig and Phillip Rucker, “I Alone Can Fix It,” called them “loving.”

3. On Jan. 6, I feared for my country, my colleagues, my husband. I had no idea how bad it really was.

By Connie Schultz

"It is easy to see why the many Trump sycophants in Congress want nothing to do with this reckoning. There is no defending what happened, but there is also no speaking out for anyone still eager to appease this treasonous former president. All of Donald Trump’s power resides in Republicans’ fear of him."

4. Simone Biles is a role model for prioritizing her own mental health over an Olympic medal

By Suzette Hackney

"While we can accept a tweaked ankle or hamstring injury, we refuse to acknowledge how difficult it can be to focus mentally and emotionally and still compete at the highest level. And often these athletes rely upon their families and friends to keep them grounded. But the stands are empty this year. They can't look into the audience for support. They can't see a parent's proud face sending a message that everything will be OK."

5. Jeff Bezos is perfectly happy to have gushing journalists slobbering over his space flight

By Soledad O'Brien

"Jeff Bezos, you are an astronaut now! How does it feel?!" gushed Stephanie Rule on MSNBC, literally gesturing and bouncing on her heels. He’s an astronaut? Military pilot Alan Shepard had trained for months before becoming the first real American astronaut to reach space. This group, who rode on the "New Shepard,” had studied for 14 hours before leaping on board as passengers."

6. Fentanyl addiction is killing my son. But California drug laws enable him instead of helping.

By Jacqui Berlinn

"Some would say that my son needs to have the will to get well, that he needs to choose to take the steps to sobriety. They have no idea just how difficult that is. For many people with drug addictions, it takes only a few hours of sobriety before they get dope sick – a severe, sometimes fatal condition of opiate withdrawal. During that two-hour window, he would have to navigate getting to a program with an open bed. He can’t call because his phone has been stolen. He has no car, nor funds to get to the clinic – if he even knew or remembered where one might be."

7. Private companies must require vaccines for workers. It's the only way to get past COVID.

By Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Matthew Guido and Amaya Diana

"The private sector needs to fill the void. Private employers are in a better position to institute mandates and have precedent to do so. Most health care facilities, many universities and some employers already require vaccines for the flu; measles, mumps, and rubella; HPV and/or meningococcal disease. As workers transition back to in-person activity this summer and fall, employers have a responsibility to keep them all safe."

8. 'No clear answer': Few clues in case of girl sickened by foreign bacteria as others test positive

By Alison Young

"Magnify this level of difficulty many fold for what it is going to take to find the source of the virus that causes COVID-19, especially given the lack of cooperation by China – the country at the epicenter of the pandemic’s first cases. Last week, the Chinese government said it is refusing to participate in a second phase of a World Health Organization investigation because the investigation would have included scrutiny of any potential role played by laboratory research in Wuhan, in addition to potential wildlife or animal market sources."

9. COVID-19 reality shows it works to work from home. Make it last beyond the pandemic.

By The Editorial Board

"In a tight labor market, most large businesses are now saying they'll allow at least part of their workforce to stay at home. Companies like the real estate marketplace Zillow are already well positioned to take advantage of this trend. Zillow announced last year that 90% of its employees could work from home at least part of the week. Applications in the first quarter of 2021 jumped by 50%."

10. Stop using religion to fight COVID-19 vaccine. Taking it is the Christian thing to do.

By Dr. Andrew Wong

"Sadly, once nearly eradicated childhood diseases are on the rise as more people claim religious exemptions to decline vaccinations for their children. Yet practically no major religion prohibits vaccination, and some consider it an obligation because of the potential to save lives, as the COVID-19 vaccines clearly do."

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Student loans, Simone Biles, Bezos, addiction, vaccines: Top columns