664
Opinion of the Court
To be sure, the statute uses the word "made," not "held." But we have already stated, in a decision interpreting another provision of AEDPA, that Congress need not use the word "held" to require as much. In Williams v. Taylor, 529 U. S. 362 (2000), we concluded that the phrase "clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States," § 2254(d)(1) (emphasis added), "refers to the holdings, as opposed to the dicta, of this Court's decisions," id., at 412. The provision did not use the word "held," but the effect was the same. Congress, needless to say, is permitted to use synonyms in a statute. And just as "determined" and "held" are synonyms in the context of § 2254(d)(1), "made" and "held" are synonyms in the context of § 2244(b)(2)(A).
We further note that our interpretation is necessary for the proper implementation of the collateral review structure created by AEDPA. Under the statute, before a state prisoner may file a second or successive habeas application, he "shall move in the appropriate court of appeals for an order authorizing the district court to consider the application." § 2244(b)(3)(A). The court of appeals must make a decision on the application within 30 days. § 2244(b)(3)(D). In this limited time, the court of appeals must determine whether the application "makes a prima facie showing that [it] satisfies the [second habeas standard]." § 2244(b)(3)(C). It is unlikely that a court of appeals could make such a determination in the allotted time if it had to do more than simply rely on Supreme Court holdings on retroactivity. The stringent time limit thus suggests that the courts of appeals do not have to engage in the difficult legal analysis that can be required to determine questions of retroactivity in the first instance.
B
Because "made" means "held" for purposes of § 2244(b)(2)(A), it is clear that the Cage rule has not been "made retroactive to cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court." Cage itself does not hold that it is retroac-
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